The Father could have embraced the Son and given him new life without ever opening the tomb, if this were nothing more than a reward for the son's endurance and faithfulness. The message of the empty tomb is, that death and its power has been defeated by the power of God, not only for Jesus, but also for you and me. The power that raised Jesus, that rolled away the stone, this power, says Paul, is at work transforming all who hold firmly to it. Paul should know, look at how that power transformed him. The victory of Easter is, that the power of death ultimately is defeated.
Death is still very real in life.
Therefore, today's alleluias are as much about the present, as much about the future as they are about the past. That the death of our loved ones has been swallowed up in resurrected life means, that because Jesus Christ lives, so too, they live. But not just our loved ones. What has been done, has been done for the world. And what is perhaps most frightening is how easily those, who were searching for more in life, were drawn into such tragedy.