Saturday, April 28, 2007
Matthew 28:6 He is risen!
HOW DO YOU PUNCTUATE YOUR EASTER MESSAGE?
Most of us have probably taken enough English courses to be aware of the importance of punctuation. How do you punctuate your Easter message? For the way that you punctuate those words of the angel, "He is risen," will have profound consequences for you.
Is it with a question mark: "He is risen?" If so, it means that in the secret places of your mind and heart you doubt the truthfulness of the angel's message. But why should anyone doubt the reality of the resurrection? The evidence for it, both in Scripture and outside of it, are so compelling, that an honest evaluation forces one to admit that the grave was empty that Easter morning.
Perhaps you punctuate with a period: "He is risen." This may well mean that while you don't outrightly reject the resurrection, it has never yet taken hold upon your mind and heart. It means that you hear the Easter Gospel and then drop it there. Maybe you are too busy with the things of this life, and really don't concern yourself with the realities of death, judgment, and eternity.
A dash: "He is risen --" indicates a sudden transition in thought. Such people may sing the Easter hymns with gusto, but once they leave church the fact of the resurrection soon gives way to the countless distractions that life offers.
The final, the only one right and saving punctuation for the Easter message, is an exclamation point: "He is risen!" To do so means that you have come to believe and rejoice in the fact that your greatest problem in life has been solved -- the problem of your sin. It means that Christianity is going to be an every-day and every-hour concern of your life. The apostle tells us that "like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Wherever we go, whatever we do, whether we are by ourselves or with others, we will be constantly aware of the fact that our living Lord is at our side and in our heart. His love will prompt us to try hard to do those things that will make Him happy, and to avoid those things that will cause Him grief. For "He has redeemed me . . . that I should be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness; even as He is risen from death, lives and reigns to all eternity."
God grant that each of us may punctuate his Easter message with that kind of exclamation point: "He is risen!" Amen!
