Many years ago, a friend told me that his young son was a great fan of both Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers.  The boy faithfully watched both of their television shows, and one day it was announced that Mister Rogers would be paying a visit to the Captain Kangaroo show.  The boy was ecstatic.  Both of his heroes, together on the same show!  Every morning the boy would ask, “Is it today that Mister Rogers will be on Captain Kangaroo?”  Finally, the great day arrived, and the whole family gathered around the television.  There they were, Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo together.  The boy watched for a minute, but then, surprisingly, the boy got up and wandered from the room.  Puzzled, his father followed him and asked, “What is it, son? Is anything wrong?”  “It’s too good,” the boy replied. “It’s just too good.”

  On today of all days, I think we know the feeling.  It’s just too good we think, this Easter thing.  After all, Easter tells us so much about our God that is good that we can hardly believe it.

  Sin is defeated.  That means that by the power of the Holy Spirit we are no longer shackled to our sins.  Death is overcome.  We need not fear the undiscovered country which lies beyond out graves for we know, Jesus is victorious over all things, including death itself.  Maybe that’s it. Maybe the news of the empty tomb, the news of the resurrection, the news of Jesus’ victory over death is just too good to believe, too good to assimilate all at once.  And while the totality of the Resurrection may be too much for us to take in at one time, the fact of the matter is that it does provide us with three very good things that we should never overlook.  That is to say that what was unleashed today so many years ago, as Jesus broke the bonds of death forever, gives us power.  It’s power we oftentimes forget as we travel through this world.

  Sometimes our faith means very little to us.  It’s okay, that’s just our fickle sin-nature.  But, in reality, our faith makes possible amazing power in this world.  So, whether you’re down over a family situation or a medical illness or you’re simply grieving the loss of someone you’d desperately like to be with you this Easter Morning, hear the good news.  Christ’s emergence from the tomb is more than just a cause to celebrate on Easter Sunday.  No, it’s a source of amazing power.  Power that can free your life of unnecessary encumbrances.  Power that can free you from the shackles of fear or insecurity.  Jesus’ resurrection brings a power the likes of which we humans seldom realize except under the most dire of circumstances.  My hope for you, for us all, today is that we would embrace the power of Easter and unleash it unto this world, broken by human sin.

  The first thing that the Resurrection brings us is the power of HOPE!  I know a thing or two about hopelessness having struggled mightily at times in my adult life. There have been times in my life where I didn’t want to see the next day, believing that it could only get worse.  Those were lonely and desperate times and I did what lonely and desperate people do – they hurt people.  Not that you mean to, mind you.  But when you’re hopeless, there just isn’t much you can do to overcome much and so other people become collateral damage in your sad life.  I remember one time very vividly when a congregant died very suddenly how it impacted his family.  The wife, a wonderful woman, began immediately cleaning her house with vigor.  Not that it needed it mind you, rather it was just something to do as her hopelessness crashed in all around her.  Thankfully, the woman had a robust faith and was able to work through the passing of her husband, primarily because of her faith in Jesus Christ.  But for a while there, things were very bleak in her heart and in her household.  When hopelessness comes, you never know quite how you’ll respond.

  Case in point, look at Mary Magdalene in our reading this morning.  She comes to the tomb early in the morning.  There were duties and obligations one had to a dead friend, they body still needed to be prepared for their final rest, just like it is in our day.  Can you imagine how she must’ve felt.  Think of the hope she’d experienced with Jesus.  His love and forgiveness had propelled her into a new state of existence.  No longer just on the margins of society, with Jesus, she had a prominent place in his movement.  But beyond that, maybe for the first time in her life, there was hope.  There was widespread hopelessness in Jerusalem on that Passover many years ago.  The Romans had been in town for more than a generation and didn’t look to be going anywhere.  The people were held under the lash of Roman rule.  Romans who didn’t understand their ways or their practices.  It was an awful time.  In fact, rebellions often blew around, causing great upheaval because, you know what, the Romans always won.

  Prior to Jesus Christ, no less than seven men had claimed themselves to be the Jewish Messiah.  Seven times hopes were raised.  Seven times people could believe that their nation’s long nightmare would soon come to an end.  But, as we all know, these seven men met violent, crucified ends.

  But Mary Magdalene met Jesus.  Who was she?  From the New Testament, one can conclude that Mary of Magdala (her hometown, a village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee) was a leading figure among those attracted to Jesus.  When the men in that company abandoned him at the hour of mortal danger, Mary of Magdala was one of the women who stayed with him, even to the Crucifixion.  That means she would’ve likely been present when Jesus died.  Would’ve been forced to see him crucified and hanging on the cross.  She would’ve witnessed him breathing labored breaths under the weight of His body on the cross.  Needless to say, her hopes of a brighter future would’ve been dashed, or so it would seem.