Easter Sunday Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37–43; Colossians 3:1–4; John 20:1–9
It Began in a Tomb Jesus wants to re-create us.
n inmate in a Chicago prison was watching a television talk show. The show’s guest was G. Gordon Liddy. He was one of the men convicted in the Watergate scandal, which forced Richard Nixon to resign the presidency.
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The topic of the show was religion. At one point the host turned to Liddy and said, “How can you be so certain God created you?’’ Liddy smiled and replied, “No one else but God would have dared to do it. No one else but God would have had the nerve to create someone like me.’’ The audience howled with laughter. So did the talk show host. And so did the inmate in the Chicago prison. When the show ended, the inmate laid down on his prison cot and began to think to himself: Why did God create me? Why did God create someone who would end up behind prison bars? Why did God create someone who would die to goodness and love and be buried in a tomb of evil and hate in a prison cell? t was then that a surprising thought entered the inmate’s mind. The greatest event in history began in a tomb— a tomb just as secure and guarded as his prison cell.
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That event, of course, was the resurrection of Jesus. And the reason it is history’s greatest event is because of the transformation it brought about in Jesus. Jesus was no longer buried in a tomb. He was now raised from the dead. And because Jesus was raised to new life, the world was also raised to new life. For the new life that Jesus received also empowered him to communicate it to others. t was then that a second surprising thought entered the prisoner’s mind.
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What happened to Jesus in the tomb in Jerusalem could happen to him in his tomb in Chicago. Because of Jesus’ new life and power, he too could be reborn. He too could be re-created. He too could rise from the dead. At that moment it dawned on him what Easter is really all about. It’s about being reborn. It’s about be re-created. It’s about rising from the dead. It’s about becoming a new person. t that moment what happened to Jesus in the tomb happened to the prisoner in his tomb. He was reborn. He was re-created. He rose from the dead. He became a new person.
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nd this brings us to all of us in this church this morning. What happened to the inmate in the Chicago prison
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Lectionary 42
4 Easter
Sunday
35