This is resurrection
And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:10
OK, so it may not have been pretty and perfect; it may have been messy and smelly; it was probably gross and vomit-inducing: but in that moment, something beautiful happened.
God saved Jonah’s life.
God gave Jonah a fresh start.
From darkness into the light.
From death into life.
From the end of his world to the start of something new.
From despair to hope.
From everything being over to everything just beginning.
This is resurrection.
When the women close to Jesus visited his tomb that first Easter Sunday morning, they were grieving. They felt confused and disoriented, terrified and betrayed. Their world had fallen apart. They had no idea what to do, no idea where to turn. Jesus had been their way, their truth, their life. And now he was gone. He’d been defeated. He’d been killed. It was over.
The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’ Matthew 29:5-6
In that beautiful moment, everything changed.
God saved these women’s lives.
God gave them a fresh start.
From darkness into the light.
From death into life.
From the end of their world to the start of something new.
From despair to hope.
From everything being over to everything just beginning.
This is resurrection.
Wherever we find ourselves today, God is reaching out to each one of us with His beautiful resurrection power.
However dirty and shameful the place we’re in is looking; however smelly and unclean and snotty and red eyed we are; whatever mess we’ve created for ourselves or landed up in; however desperate and hopeless our situation is: God is ready and willing and able to drag us onto dry land.
God can save our life.
God can give us a fresh start.
From darkness into the light.
From death into life.
From the end of our world to the start of something new.
From despair to hope.
From everything being over to everything just beginning.
This is resurrection.
