The tomb is empty: if it weren’t, all the Romans and Pharisees needed to do was go to the tomb and show Jesus’ body to his disciples. Yet, his body was never found. Furthermore, women, who in the first-century were not valid witnesses, were the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. One of the women was Mary, a former prostitute, and when she bows down before the risen Jesus, he receives her worship and comforts her.

Every day, we fall short of the expectations required for us to be considered “good enough” for “the good place” but the story of Easter is that Jesus is good enough, loves you no matter what you’ve done, and has died a substitutionary death to defeat the darkness and bring us into his glorious light. Evil will have its day, and one day Christ will return to usher in a new heaven and earth, wiping away our tears, and ending suffering. Until then, may we be a City on a Hill that stands for Jesus’ truth, love, justice, and hope, trusting that he is risen, and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death.