Embracing Resurrection

Embracing Resurrection

Psalm 118: 14 - 24

Luke 24: 1 – 10

Easter

April 5, 2026

Let’s be honest, most of us don’t wake up expecting resurrection.

We wake up checking our phones. We wake up carrying stress. We wake up already thinking about what’s broken, what’s overdue, what’s uncertain. And if we’re going to be truly honest, some of us have walked in today carrying things that feel….. final. Dead ends. Closed doors. Relationships that won’t heal. Dreams that didn’t work out.

That’s exactly where this story starts.

Luke tells us that “very early in the morning,” these women go to the tomb carrying burial spices. Not hope. Not expectation. They come to the tomb, while all the rest are hiding, with just spices. Which means they’re planning for death, not resurrection. They’re doing what you do when something is over – when you try to bring closure.

Honestly, that’s where a lot of us live. We’ve learned how to manage disappointment. We’ve learned how to cope with things that do not change. Or, at least, we can’t change them. We’ve become very good at preparing burial spices for situations we’ve already given up on. But here’s the turning point, when the women got to the tomb, the stone is already rolled away.

Nobody asked for it. Nobody prayed for it in that moment. Nobody even expected it. But God had already moved. Friends, that’s the first thing you need to hear today. We shouldn’t be surprised that God is already working on things you’ve written off.

Before you figured out how to fix it, God was moving. Before you gave up, God was still working. Before you even showed up, God had already started shifting things. The stone wasn’t rolled away so that Jesus could get out. The stone was rolled away….. so that the women – and us - could see in.

Sometimes the barriers that seem so overwhelming and unbreakable are not what holds God back. Instead, the greatest barriers are those that we allow to block our vision, our sight, that block our perception of new possibilities.

So they go in – these courageous women - and tomb is empty. Instead of immediate celebration, there’s confusion. Luke says they’re “wondering.” That word means they’re mentally stuck. They don’t know what to do with what they’re seeing.

Two angels show up and ask a question that honestly still hits today: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” That’s not just a Bible question; that’s a life question.

Why are we still looking for validation in places that drain us? Why are we still chasing peace in things that leave us anxious? Why are we expecting life from environments that are clearly lifeless? Why are we scrolling for joy… and ending up even more empty when we can’t find it? Why are we going back to habits that never actually healed us?

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” That question exposes something. Sometimes we get so used to disappointment that we stop looking for life altogether. We just manage what’s dead. We have learned how to live in disillusionment. But resurrection doesn’t work like that. Resurrection doesn’t meet you in your expectations, it disrupts them.

The angels say, “He is not here. He has risen!” And then they say something key, “Remember what he told you.”

“Remember what he told you.” That’s everything.

Because the truth is, Jesus already said this would happen - but grief made them forget. And that still happens, doesn’t it? Life hits hard, and we forget what God said. We forget his promises. We forget his faithfulness. We forget that just because something looks finished, it doesn’t mean that God is finished.

So if you’re wondering how to actually live this out - how to practice resurrection in a real, everyday way - it starts here. You’ve got to remember what’s true, even when life feels loud and commands your attention. Remember. Not what fear is saying. Not what your worst-case scenario is saying. You have got to remember what Jesus said. Because resurrection isn’t just about what happened to Jesus - it’s also about what’s now possible for you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in your life. Not theoretically. Not symbolically. Actually at work in your life.

That means that hope once deemed dead can come back alive. Joy, once lost and seemingly gone, can come back alive and vital. Dead relationships can be restored. Dead purpose can wake up again.

And here is where it gets practical.

Having encountered resurrection, the women leave the tomb and go tell others. Which is interesting, because they don’t have the full picture yet. They haven’t even seen Jesus personally at this point.

But they still go. Why? Because when you experience even a glimpse of resurrection, you can’t stay quiet. Death to life screams out for a proclamation. Embracing resurrection means that you don’t wait until everything makes sense to start living like Jesus is alive.

You start now. You forgive now - even if it’s hard. You choose hope now - even if it feels risky. You take the next steps of faith now - even if you’re unsure. Because resurrection isn’t just something you believe in; resurrection is something you step into.

Embracing and living into resurrection might look like getting back up after failure instead of staying stuck in shame. It might look like choosing not to go back to what you know is unhealthy - even when it’s familiar. It might look like trusting God with your future when you don’t have a clear plan. Embracing resurrection might look like choosing to speak life and new possibilities into your own soul that has felt negative, squelched, perhaps even dead.

This is resurrection faith coming alive, back from the dead, running to a world filled with new possibilities.

Friends, the Spirit of God is not distant. he’s present. Active. Moving. Resurrection power is not just a past event - it’s a present force. It gives you strength that you didn’t have. Peace, that you can’t explain. Clarity, when things feel chaotic. It empowers you to live differently - not perfectly, but powerfully.

Just to be clear, embracing resurrection doesn’t erase scars. Jesus still had his, but those scars were no longer signs of defeat. Instead, they were transformed and became proof that what had tried to destroy him did not carry the day. That means that your story – your scars - do not disqualify you. They become the evidence that God can bring life out of anything.

So here’s the question for you today: Where have you settled for “this is just how it is”? Where have you stopped expecting God to move? Where have you been carrying spices for the dead instead of expecting resurrection? Because the invitation of Easter is not just to celebrate something that happened back then. The invitation of Easter resurrection is a call to step into something that’s happening right now.

The tomb is empty.

But more than that, that same transformative resurrection power that brought Jesus out of the tomb is available to each of us today! Life doesn’t have to stay stuck. You don’t have to keep living in cycles that drain you. You don’t have to stay buried in a tomb of regret or fear. You don’t have to settle for survival….. when resurrection is available.

Jesus isn’t in the grave. Jesus has moved beyond the tomb. So visit, see where he was, wonder how it happened, but don’t linger there too long. Step into what God is already doing. Live like hope is real. Live like freedom is possible. Live like resurrection actually changes things, because it does. Christ has risen, and that changes everything! Embrace resurrection! Amen.