“And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,” Luke 24:2 NASB

Powerful imagery is given us by Holy Week: The Last Supper where Jesus institutes servant leadership by washing the feet of His disciples; His heart wrenching prayers to His heavenly Father from the Garden of Gethsemane, then His brutal betrayal at the hand of a friend and Peter’s further betrayals, not once, but three times. Then the horrifying crucifixion, ending in a tomb carved out of a rock, with a great, big unmovable stone at the entrance. A stone so big, it was meant to stop anyone from getting to the body of Jesus.

They needed to be MUCH more concerned about Jesus getting OUT.

Easter is the most central celebration of our church calendar. Far more than Christmas when the world welcomed a tiny, vulnerable baby into the humility of Bethlehem, the resurrection proved once and for all that Jesus was, indeed, Lord. He accomplished what He came to do, conquering sin and death on the cross, and ever victorious in His resurrection.

That resurrection power, that huge energy that both raised Him from the dead AND rolled away the unmovable stone at the entrance of that tomb, is the same energy that God releases, by His Holy Spirit, into every heart who believes on Him. This is His promise.

There are many mysteries and secrets to the inner Christian life; but, in my experience, the most important lesson I take away from the Resurrection is this: Victory begins on the inside and works its way out.

There is not a single breakthrough in my life where victory was not won first within my own heart, in my inner chambers where I meet with God by the Spirit. In that place I rejoice in sorrow, boast in my weakness, and celebrate my inability. It is in the inner places, at the bottom of the pit, when I stop digging and look up, that I behold the loving face of a wonderful Savior. And He comes to me, and changes everything.

This is the victory, even our faith. And as that resurrection power floods our being the unmovable stone holding us captive begins to move. It rolls away and we are…free. The light and life of Jesus fills our inner being with all we need to keep moving forward. Hope is resurrected.

Is there an unmovable stone in your life? Resurrection power is available to you, right now. Only believe.

~ Debbie Ecker