Easter Sunday 2025 at Little Falls Chapel began with thanks for coming through a storm. A line of bad weather had gone through the night before, some of Pastor Linda Reese’s own relatives had been hit, and she opened by thanking God that it was not as bad as it could have been, and that He is the One who calms the storm.

He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.

Luke 24:6 (KJV)

Why the resurrection is not just a nice ending

She gave reasons rather than sentiment. Because Christ was raised, the kingdom of heaven has broken into the history of this world. God’s power is at work destroying sin, making new life, and getting us ready for the second coming. Death has been beaten, which means we will be raised as well.

She had a line for the years since 2020, off a sticker on one of her cups: normal is not coming back, but Jesus is. People keep waiting to get back to how things were. That is not the promise. The promise is better and it is guaranteed.

Her own theory about the resurrection order

She has wondered for years why Scripture says the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Her theory, offered with a straight face, is that they are six feet under and have further to travel, so they need the head start.

She was less amused about where people choose to be buried. Someone she knew wanted a plot near their parents so they could all go up together. Her answer: it does not matter where you are. “Sitting in a graveyard isn’t going to be doing much good for Christ.” Live your life, and live it for God.

Look at my hands

When Jesus appeared, the disciples were frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit. He asked why they were troubled and why doubts were rising in their hearts, then held out His hands and showed them His feet and told them to touch Him, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:38–40). He met their doubt with evidence rather than a rebuke, and He did the same for Thomas.

He did not have to come

She read the hymn Paul quotes in Philippians: Christ, being in the form of God, made Himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, and so God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name (Philippians 2:6–11).

Her emphasis was that He did not merely look human. He became human, went through childhood, went through the forty days of temptation, and took our sins on Himself on purpose.

Then she asked the room a question worth sitting with. What if He had not volunteered? What if He had told His Father He was not going down there, not going to be crucified, not going to die that way for ungrateful people? He could have said it. He did not.

A plan and a purpose

She owns a t-shirt that reads: God has a plan for you, you have a purpose. That was her summary. The resurrection gives the church its authority to speak, gives meaning to the Lord’s Supper, and gives us something to hold when a tragedy makes no sense. The power that brought Jesus out of the grave is available for living in a world like this one.

This week

Tell one person why it matters to you. Related: Easter’s 3 Questions, He Took My Place and Palm Sunday: What the Donkey Teaches Us.

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