An Adaptation of passages from “Battlefield Memories”, a message by Charles Swindoll.

Easter Victory Narrative

Mark 16:6

New International Version

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

For Encouragement

There is an empty niche, far more famous and in sharp contrast to any monument in the world. It … stands in memory of a battle, but not the kind fought with guns and bayonets. This niche is actually a tomb . . . a place that once held a body, in fact, the most significant body that ever housed a human soul. The tomb was borrowed, appropriately, and “used” for only a few hours. But in perfect fulfillment of Scripture, it enveloped the dead Messiah.

The battle against sin had been bloody and treacherous. Anyone who had the courage to visit that tomb shortly after it was sealed would certainly have wept bitterly. The battlefield, strewn with the litter of an awful fight, was only too vivid in everyone’s memory—a small pile of clothing, a spear, a matted network of thorns in the shape of a head, a bloody cross. And those words, those final words the victim uttered, especially that awful scream—

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (Mark 15:34)

But what appeared to be defeat was actually the preface of victory. That ugly, rugged cross took its toll, but it failed to have the final voice.

Deep in the silence of night, against all odds and in mockery of strong-armed soldiers, that victim became the Victor. “Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes.” Or, as Charles Wesley wrote of that Easter-morning miracle:

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

The bloody battlefield paled into a misty memory as the tomb opened its jaws for all to enter. Death could not keep its prey . . . He tore the bars away . . . He came back from beyond.

Every year the empty niche makes its own bold proclamation. Etched into the stone is a Name that is above every name, the gentle Conqueror, the King of Kings, the sovereign Lord.

On Easter Sunday, we all visited that historic battleground. We did not find Him there on a cross or standing tall as a bronzed statue. For “He is not here . . . He has risen, just as He said” (Matthew 28:6).

Let’s continue to meet at the monument everyday and think about Him. Let us reflect on His victory and His heart to welcome you with mercy and grace to help you on your Christian journey. And remember His Name as we worship near that windswept hill called Calvary. {All italics, my modification}

[By: Pastor Charles Swindoll].

Happy Easter Monday, everybody.

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