What is it good for? Luke 24:1-12

There's a line from a song and if I say it just right some people know exactly what words come next.

What is it good for...

I heard that old song by Edwin Starr called War. He asked out loud,

“War. What is it good for?”

And his response was simple—

absolutely nothin'.

He asked the question again.

War—what is it good for?

And then I started to wonder what people in our world today think about Easter, and I asked that same question about Easter, what is it good for? And the best answer I could find is absolutely everything. Easter is good news if you don't have it all together today. Easter is good news if you have troubles today. See the real story of Easter starts not the world being bright and perfect—no the real story of Easter starts with disappointment and despair. In a world where nothing is right that's when Easter matters.

Luke writes about women who got up early to go grieve at the grave of their beloved Jesus. He was the one who taught them all about the transforming love of God. When they were with him everything made sense—the world was about to turn for the better. And in half a day he was gone. And that morning they were going to go and cry. But God had other plans for them and for all the world. They were about to learn that for God even the grave is not end.

When they got to the tomb the situation was far from what they had expected.
The stone that blocked the tomb had been rolled away. They stepped in and didn't find the body. In their confusion two men dressed in white just showed up and they stood next to them. The women looked down at the ground in terror.
And the men spoke.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here, but has risen

I love that question that the angels asked as they looked at these women whose heads and hearts were so full of sorrow and confusion.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?.”

There are times when every person I know could be asked this very same question. Why are you looking for life in places of death? And the promise of Easter is that Jesus has risen--and after all our functional saviors have failed to give us peace and joy--that's when the Good News of Easter matters most. After all our attempts to save ourselves have failed we hear this news--in God death doesn't win, despair, sin, shame, evil--it all stops with Easter. And that's when the new life begins.

peace and thanks for reading,
John