Easter Sunday 2026

Empty is not usually a good thing. If you've ever gone to the fridge for your midnight snack, day dreaming about a nice, big bowl of fruit loops, only to find that someone put the milk jug back empty - not a good thing. Or the last time you were cruising down the high way, only to realize your gas gauge wasn't where you thought it was, and now you get to wait for AAA or walk a couple miles back to town - again, empty isn't usually a good thing.

But today - on this day, on Easter Sunday - empty is a good thing. The Gospel of John tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning to be near her friend, to mourn and to grieve and to pray. She found his tomb empty. Later Gospel narratives will show us that no one quite understood what it meant yet but today the tomb was empty. And while empty is not usually a good thing - today it was the best thing.

If Jesus was just a nice guy who people followed because he said nice things or if he were just a good moral teacher who taught us how to live moral and upright lives - then none of this would matter, and empty would not be a good thing. But we know that Jesus Christ is the Lord and his rising from the dead is of the greatest importance. His rising from the dead means that He has conquered sin once and for all, that He has vanquished the powers of hell, and that death has no sting. For us, the empty tomb means the forgiveness of sins. The empty tomb is a sign of hope. The empty tomb brings us the fullness of life. Alleluia, thanks be to God that tomb was empty on Easter morning.