“He is not here. He is risen.”

But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. (Matthew 28:5-6 ESV)

 The simple message that changed the world forever was this one: “He is not here. He is risen.”
Easter is about the meaning of our lives. It is about human purpose. It is about eternity. Easter is about resurrection, His and ours.
 But the very notion of resurrection is rejected by the intellectual gurus among us. “Death is the end,” they say. “It would take a miracle to bring back the dead, and there are no miracles.”
 If a miracle is that which transcends the ability of science to explain, it may safely be said that each of us is a walking-around miracle, and all that we see, all that we hear and all that we touch are miracles.
 We yearn for understanding, and we are impelled toward the heavens by an implanted homing instinct. Oh, if there were only some vantage point, some philosophical place where we could step back and away from ourselves, some place where we could stand and see ourselves clearly in the perspective of all of creation and in the perspective of eternity.
 Christians have found such a place, and the joy of its finding shines in their faces. From that place, they see that the full meaning of their lives is to be worked out, fulfilled and understood not in the span of a lifetime, but in the framework of forever.
 That is the essence of Easter. The words resonate throughout all of creation: “He is not here. He is risen.” —Linda Bowles [1]

 The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.—Robert Flatt

[1] Anchor The Essence of Easter