Easter Day: Questions That Heal

PAUSE

As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to recenter my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(pause)

An Easter prayer from the Melanesian Brotherhood:

Look: the hills and the valleys shine with promises,
And every burning morning is a prophecy of Christ.
He is coming to raise, forgive, and to heal.
Open wide your lives and forever love, not fear, those you meet.^*

REFLECT

Bible: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. (1 Cor. 15:55–58)

Book passage: This book has been all about questions: questions of the heart (“How am I going to get through this?”), questions of the head (“Why aren’t my prayers being answered?”), and questions of the soul (“Where are you God?”). On Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, we ask such things again and again. But then, on Easter Sunday, the tables are turned. Now it is Jesus coming at us with questions, not to test but to heal us. . . .

Jesus’ question for Mary Magdalene, “Why are you crying?” (John 20:13) targeted her pain. His question for the two men on the road to Emmaus, “What are you discussing? . . . Don’t you understand?” (Luke 24:17–25), targeted their confusion. His question to the disciples, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” (Luke 24:38), targeted their crisis of faith. And then He cooked breakfast for Peter and asked him a question that targeted his guilt: “Do you truly love me?” (John 21:15).

The journey through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday leaves us in a state of pain, confusion, doubt, or shame. But Jesus loves us too much to leave us here for long..

ASK

Addressing pain. If your experiences of unanswered prayer have left you hurting and disorientated like Mary Magdalene, Jesus asks you the question He asked her: “Why are you crying?” So tell Him! Lament. Rant, if you need to. And when you are done, stop and hear the way He speaks your name.

Addressing confusion. Maybe your disappointments in prayer have left you confused like that earnest couple on the road to Emmaus. Don’t run away from the questions. Allow Jesus to . . . help you make sense of what you’re going through. Study and think. Discuss these matters with friends. Perhaps, as you talk, there will be moments when you realize that Jesus has joined the conversation, just as He did on the road to Emmaus.

Addressing doubt. Maybe unanswered prayer has created a quiet crisis of faith in your life. Like the disciples, who could hardly believe it when Jesus appeared in their midst, your old confidence in God has been eroded. You are older and wiser, which is good, but you are also suspicious and weary. Imagine Jesus stepping through the locked doors of your heart and asking, “Why are you troubled, and why do you doubt?” Tell Him! You would not be the first, of course, to say, “I do believe; help me in my unbelief!” ’

Addressing sin. Or maybe in your journey through disappointment you have surrendered to some “besetting sin” (Heb. 12:1 KJV). You may, like Peter, have lied and even denied your Lord in ways you thought He’d never see. In which case, He will be pursuing you now just as He pursued Peter, with a quiet determination to dismantle your shame, restore your relationship, and renew your commission.

YIELD

From 1 Peter 1:6–7:

Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Amen.