Sermon - The Tomb Is Empty | Pastor Jisun Yang | Easter Sunday | 4-5-2026
- Middletown UMC Meadowlark
- Apr 5
- 2 min read
DNA Testing has become something that ordinary people can use to trace their family history. It is simple to obtain and affordable. 20% - 40% of American adults have taken a DNA test. Why is this ? It is because we all want to know "Who am I ? Where do I come from? Where do I belong? What happens after life? Where is my true home?". Easter speaks to these questions. Easter tells us that death is not the end. Our story does not end in darkness because Jesus is risen.
After the crucifixion, No one expected to see Jesus again. The disciples retreated to a secure room and hid behind locked doors, fearing that they would be next. But on the third day, the stone covering the entrance to Jesus' tomb was rolled away. The tomb was empty. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, and later to the disciples in their safe room. Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus and thought he was the gardener. Only when he spoke her name did she recognize him. Will we recognize our loved ones in heaven? What will our resurrected bodies look like?
The resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of the church. Without the resurrection there is no church,
no Christian and no goodness. We all struggle with a lack of faith. But that should not turn us away from God.
Barbara Johnson, an American writer and professor, wrote that we are Easter people living in a Good Friday world - a world that is broken and full of pain, injustice and sorrow. But we live with hope of the resurrection and joy. We carry light into darkness; we carry love into broken places; we carry hope into a world that is still searching; we carry healing where we need forgiveness, where we need reconciliation, where people are suffering.
Friends, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!