Perhaps you saw the story on the news about a couple who had adopted a little girl when she was only two or three weeks old. They accepted the child into the home. They grew to love the child. They watched her grow and develop. But, for some reason, the little girl didn't grow and develop normally. She is now two-and-one-half years old and the doctors have told these adoptive parents that their little girl is mentally retarded and she will never be the normal child they wanted.

The reason this story made the news is because the adoptive parents no longer want the child. They have sued in court to relinquish their parental rights and return custody of the child to the adoption agency.

When I heard that story on the news, I remembered a couple who were members of a previous church I pastored. They adopted a little boy and when he was about four years old, they wanted to adopt a little girl whom they could love and would be a sister to their son.

After a waiting period, they received a little girl from the adoption agency. She was a beautiful child and they named her Amy. But Amy did not grow or develop as a normal child. She, too, was diagnosed as having mental handicaps. But, these parents chose to love her and help her develop just as much as she possibly could.

When this family moved to our community, Amy's mother brought her to Sunday school and even helped that class of seven-year-old boys and girls understand Amy's difficulties. And the children responded by accepting Amy and treating her as one of their friends. That first spring that they lived in our community, the children of that seven-year-old class listened in fascination as their Sunday school teacher told them the story of the first Easter. Since it was a beautiful day, the teacher had come up with a creative plan for her class. She had been saving those panty hose containers that look like large eggs. She had decorated them to look like Easter eggs and she gave each child one and told them they were to go outside and find symbols of new life, put them in the Easter egg and bring them back to the classroom. When everyone returned, they would share what they found. The children loved the excursion out to the church lawn. They ran and laughed and giggled as they searched for a symbol of new life to put into their egg. When they returned, each child got to open their egg and show what they found. A little girl opened hers and a pretty flower fell out. A little boy opened his and half of a robin egg fell out. Another little boy opened his and the butterfly that he caught in the yard flew out. Then, it was time to open Amy's Easter egg. Amy opened her egg and it was empty. There was nothing inside. The teacher smiled and asked, "Couldn't you find anyting to put in the egg, Amy?"

Amy looked at her teacher and said, "It's empty because the tomb of Jesus is empty."

The message of that first Easter is a message that has echoed across the centuries -- the tomb is empty. There is nothing inside except the discarded grave clothes lying there, mute but eloquent evidence that a living organism had come out. The grave clothes lay like the shriveled, cracked shell of a cocoon, left behind when the butterfly had emerged and hoisted its beautiful wings to fly in the sunshine.

Jesus was dead! The Roman soldiers had seen to that. They drove huge nails through his hands and feet. The cry of the pain was expected. The barbarity of the crucifixion made even the hardest person in the crowd cringe in sympathy. Six hours of torture on that cross drained all of his strength and he quietly said, "It is finished ... Father, into thy hands I commit my Spirit," and he was dead. But, just to make sure, one soldier took his lance and pierced the side of Jesus, and the last remaining drops of blood poured out.

They took him down from the cross and buried him in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. They hastily anointed his body with the burial ointments before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown on Friday. They would wait all of Friday night and all day Saturday and not return to the tomb, lest they defile themselves according to Jewish law. However, at the first dawning of light on Sunday morning, they would return to the tomb and finish the anointing of the dead body with oils and ointments.

However, sometime in the early morning hours, just prior to the dawning of a new day, there is a rustling as the breath of God moves through the garden. Jesus rises from that cold, stone slab where he had been laid. He stands for a moment on wounded feet. He catches the strange scents of the tomb with its bandages and spices and then he walks out of that tomb -- alive forevermore. This is the message of Easter that echoes across the centuries. The tomb is empty. Christ has risen! Jesus is alive forevermore. I don't claim to understand or comprehend the full meaning of Easter. In fact, I doubt if any of us really understand. However, I believe with everything in my being that the first Easter and every Easter since then is the message of an empty tomb.

Today, I want to look at some of the implications of the empty tomb on that first Easter.

I. On That First Easter, The Empty Tomb Was A Surprise.

Implicit in the whole story of that first Easter is that the disciples and followers of Jesus, the religious leaders in Jerusalem and the Roman authorities, never expected to see Jesus again. The resurrection, with its empty tomb, was the last thing anyone expected. When Mary and the other women made their way toward the tomb and discovered the stone rolled away, they were surprised.

When the disciples were told that the tomb was empty, Peter and John ran to investigate because this news surprised them. When the religious leaders of Jerusalem heard of the empty tomb from their guard of soldiers, they were so surprised that they created a story and told the soldiers to say, "... the disciples came during the night and stole his body ..." They tried everything they could think of to silence the news of the empty tomb, but nothing worked.

The empty tomb was not some fantastic idea conjured up by grieving hearts. Nor, was it the result of wishful thinking. The news of the empty tomb had come as a complete shock. It was unexpected. It was bewildering. It was a surprise.

There is recorded in the scripture the amazing change that came over these disciples once they were surprised with the empty bomb. They were not courageous individuals. When Jesus was arrested and crucified, the disciples were fearful for their own lives. Yet, after that first Easter morning, these same men who were so timid, so frightened, so ineffective, were now preaching openly, with no fear of anyone. The empty tomb had so surprised them that it filled them with boldness, courage and power.

The surprising change that happened in their lives is something that can happen in yours. I know it can! I've seen it happen many times.

I know a woman who was married for 25 years and had grown children. Although her marriage had survived for many years, it was not a healthy or happy marriage. In fact, the woman and her boss had been involved in an affair for almost two years.

One Sunday, she came to church and was surprised with the relevance of the gospel to her life. Later, she came by my office and told me she felt God wanted her to change the direction of her life. She didn't know if she could change, but she was going to try. She broke off the affair with her boss. She worked at renewing her relationship with her husband. She became a good, honorable woman trying to live her faith in God.

This is Easter Sunday and that is what I wish for you -- a surprise. I want you to find his love when you do not expect it. I want you to find his relationship when you think it is not there. I want you to find Jesus Christ when you are convinced his tomb is empty.

II. On That First Easter, The Empty Tomb Was An Experience Of Joy.

On that first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene; Salome, the mother of James and John; and Mary, the mother of Jesus; were up before the light of dawn and were on their way to the tomb where the body of Jesus had been laid. Sorrow and grief still bubbled in their hearts because they had seen Jesus crucified. They were weeping and red-eyed. They had not really slept since Friday. They had no real taste for food. The grieving and the sense of loss simply overwhelmed them.

When they arrived at the tomb, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. They were shocked and thought grave robbers had broken it open. They could not understand what happened or why it happened. Tears flooded their eyes and trickled down their cheeks. Sorrow made their hearts feel as though they were going to break. Their minds were tortured with the shock of Jesus' body missing from the tomb.

Then, they were greeted by the risen Lord who said, "Chairete." The literal meaning of the word is, "Rejoice." Suddenly, the sorrow gave way to joy when they realized that the empty tomb meant that Jesus was alive.

The first Easter and the empty tomb was an experience of joy for the women and the disciples. I believe that our faith in him is the promise that joy can fill our lives.

Recently, I was in Denver for some meetings. Whenever the meetings were over for the day, I would watch the local news. Like many people in Denver, I became fascinated with a particular news story. It was not a story on the presidential election which captured my attention. It was not a story on the Iran-Contra scandal. It was not a story about the majestic beauty of the Colorado Rockies. The story which captured my attention and the interest of people all over Colorado, was about a newborn baby that was left on the doorstep of a Catholic convent. Evidently, some mother felt completely inadequate at raising a child and had decided to leave the baby on the doorstep of the convent.

There was one nun who was allowed to meet and talk to the public. She was about 60 years old, but she looked positively radiant as she held the baby and showed her off to the news reporters. One of the reporters asked, "Sister, have you named the baby?"

"Yes," the Sister replied, "We call her 'Joy' because of the joy she has brought into our lives."

In a wonderful way, joy has been brought into each of our lives because of the first Easter. The message of that first Easter proclaims an empty tomb that has rescued us and fills us with the joy of life.

III. On That First Easter, The Empty Tomb Was A Promise That Because Jesus Lives, We Will Live.

This is the real meaning of Easter. No news story will ever be flashed around the world that the mummified body of Jesus has been discovered. We have no embalmed body of Jesus enclosed in glass for all the world to see. All that we have is an empty tomb and the promise of Jesus: "Because I live, you will live." Several years ago, I was visiting one of my members who was in the hospital. I was a young man, fresh out of seminary and still wet behind the ears as a minister. I was visiting this elderly man and he was extremely ill. He wanted to talk to me, his pastor, about his funeral service and I wanted to talk about anything else -- the weather, football, politics, or anything else I could think of.

Finally, I asked him, "Joe, doesn't it bother you? Aren't you frightened?" He smiled and said, "Robert, I know I'm not going to make it, but I'm not afraid. I have a confession to make. I've taken a peek at the back of the book."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He said, "You didn't know me 10 years ago when I had my first heart attack. They called it cardiac arrest. I can remember the medical team thinking I was dead. I can also remember the tremendous feeling of being surrounded by God's love. I was revived by the doctors, but ever since that day I have been unafraid to die. I've been there and it doesn't frighten me. I know that one day soon I am going to go to sleep and I believe that when I awaken, I will, once again, be surrounded by God's love."

This is the message of the first Easter and every Easter since. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. Jesus is alive. And because of this, we too, shall live!

Prayer: O God, help us put our faith in Jesus Christ. Help us to know that we can trust him and his promise, "Because I live, you shall live also." We pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.