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“Christ is risen! He has risen, indeed! Alleluia!”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”’”

Exodus 8:1 (ESV)

Today, we look at Easter Sunday – the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What an awesome day! This is what a great day to gather and worship and celebrate the pivotal event in all of history.

When we think about “defeating the odds,” there are positive iterations of that and negative ones.

Negatives like getting struck by lightning; of getting attacked by a shark; of developing an extremely rare type of disease.

But there’s also the positives of winning the lottery, or getting that great promotion, or marrying well above your station.

We’re in our last day of looking at our journey through “Exodus: Let my people go!” series. In that book, there aren’t many greater examples of people defeating the odds: being locked in slavery and oppressed for hundreds of years, and yet against all odds, God saved them. Moses, one who had been wanted for murder, going back and addressing Pharaoh face to face with God’s command and God’s power and being triumphant through God’s word, God’s actions, and God’s plagues; against all odds. Being trapped against the Sea and God dividing it so that the whole nation of Israelites walked over a dry ground while all of Pharaoh’s army drowned; against all odds. Having no water or no food, and God providing water from the Rock and Manna every single day; against all odds. Receiving God’s covenantal promise through His Words on Mount Sinai and being selected as His people, even through their continuous disobedience and rebellion; against all odds. Time and time and time again we see God defeating all odds on behalf of His people out of His mercy and grace.

Our epistle text says, “‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting as death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives the victory to our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). God gives the victory over death, against all odds. That is the very reality that encounters us this day; this special day; this pivotal day; this highest, holy day. Death doesn’t have the last word! Defeat doesn’t have the last word! Depression doesn’t have the last word! Disease doesn’t have the last word! Demotion doesn’t have the last word! God has the last word; and that last word on the matter is Life from death; joy from mourning; hope from despair.

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

Matthew 28:5-6

Jesus is not in the tomb; He has risen, just as He said. Do not be afraid, no matter how stacked the odds are against you. Today is a day when we look in an empty tomb and instead hear of a risen Christ. We look to victory over death and see, against all odds, everything that we could possibly want or even imagine for eternity: grace, mercy, forgiveness, life – all of it. Against all odds. Odds that said we should be in death; that we should be in despair from our sins; that this was the end; there is no hope there is no future. And against all odds, “Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!”

“We thank you, Lord Jesus, for conquering sin, death, and the devil against all odds of the evil one – for us and for our Salvation and for creation to be made new. We praise and thank You for this day above all days, because You are King Above all kings and Lord above all lords. Help us to celebrate this day, not just today, but every day, in Your previous, glorious, victorious, reigning, living Name, Jesus. Amen!”

Scripture

• Exodus 15:1-18
• 1 Corinthians 15:55-58
• Matthew 28:1-20