The response to the Responsorial Psalm for the first reading on this Easter Sunday is: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad”. It is truly a day when the biggest thing that means the most in our lives happened—the resurrection of Jesus Christ—the very act that destroys the powers that block our blessings, pollute our anointing and short-circuit our destinies in life. Today, we have gained a counselor, a defense lawyer, and an advocate, who is going to be seated at the right hand of God interceding for us while doing everything He can to do right by us.
My friends, life is all about where your hope and faith is anchored. You see, many people have been hurt and crushed in life because they found faith and hope in their own strength and abilities. Many have been bashed and destroyed because they found hope and faith in others. Many have been disappointed and devastated because they found faith and hope in material investments. Many have been broken, torn to pieces, and even killed because they found hope and faith in human love and promises. We all know too well what human beings can do, how their desires and wants can compromise even the most sacred of things. People can do you good and they can do you badly and they can do you so bad that you wonder what there is in life left to be appreciated.
But thank God for Jesus Christ risen from the dead! Thank God we have a kinsman-redeemer who not only knows how to do us good but also comes to us as the only power capable of helping us resist the seductions of human wants, the weakness of cowardice, and the destructive powers of compromised promises. So, what Christ did for us today, by His resurrection, is to turn those things that used to break us into things that make us; those things that tend to destroy us into things that bless us; those situations that tend to weaken and despair us into situations of opportunity and hope. Remember that Christ’s mission on earth was to counter the efforts of the devil to abort our anointing, pollute our blessings, and protect us from all evil powers and forces that conspire to destroy our future. There are some people in whose company it is easy to do wrong and there are some in whose company it is easy to do right. Wrong turns are made in life either because we are in the wrong company or somebody who should have helped was not there. When we are with the right person in life, nothing else matters; and when we are not with the right person, nothing can make up for the absence.
My friends, we can stand steadfast in this life only when we stand it in Christ Jesus; we can do things right only when we do them with Jesus, and we can fight it out in life only when we fight it out with Christ. Our strength comes not from the inside, not from the outside, not from others, not from things, but from the Risen Lord. This is why we should commit ourselves to stand in Christ no matter what happens”. Remember that Easter is all about standing with the Lord because He is the true reason for this season.
