In fact, if the empty tomb is the only message we hear at Easter, then we have not heard the real message of Easter. It is what happens beyond the empty tomb that gives Easter its true authority. And like Joshua, we desire to push our experience of the seasons to its sublime limit rather than trying to discover what it means for our everyday life. During the season of Lent I have done a lot of thinking about that same question. First of all, we need to understand that the Easter message is not an end.
Easter is a beginning.
We have made it through Lent and Holy Week and Easter Day. But the journey continues. It was not the empty tomb that gave the disciples power. It was their encounter with the Risen Christ, and that did not occur until Sunday evening and the days following the resurrection that led up to Pentecost. We can change our habits, our lifestyles, our hairstyles and our attitudes.