Daily Devotional

I spent many years as an executive secretary. (Now they call them Assistants). I was eventually able to type sixty-six words a minute and was also quite adept at shorthand at 110 words per minute. To say I  was familiar with keyboards is an understatement; they were my livelihood. My husband, on the other hand, uses a “hunt and peck” method. In fact, when he had to write official letters in the Navy, he comically put the initials MTF next to the officer’s initials at the bottom of the letter. Normally, it was the secretary’s initials but, in this case, they stood for My Three Fingers! 

There are a number of things I could use as object lessons when I teach about the Easter story—e.g., an Easter lily or an Easter egg. Instead, I want us to consider using a keyboard, so familiar to many of us. Put your fingers on the middle row and you have on the left:  a  s  d  f.  On the right:  j  k   l  ;. Many of us can hit the keys without even thinking about them. (Try typing on our imaginary keyboard, "Jesus loves me, this I know.” You did it without effort!)            

I want us to look at the Biblical account of the Easter story in a new light, using only the punctuation marks on a typical keyboard. Let’s begin with a comma. What does a comma do?  It makes us stop and pause—i.e., to ponder Easter. It is good to pause and think about the greatest event in human history—the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is more than just a parenthesis ( )—a tiny slice of Christian belief. Easter equals (=) the foundation of our hope. It does not equal (≠) just another holiday (You can find the ≠ symbol by pushing Option +). Nor is it added (+) as an etcetera to a whole list of holidays.              

Sadly, if a punctuation mark was our only means of communicating what we believe about Easter, some of us would honestly have to use a  question mark (?) or two (??). We might ask:              
“Does it really matter whether Jesus raised bodily from the grave?”            
“Isn’t it enough to just have ‘resurrection faith’ without ‘resurrection fact’—to just believe He was  raised from the dead without need of proof?"      

Sadly, people are certainly divided (÷) over  the issue. Actually, the apostle Paul argues that we don’t need faith to believe the resurrection. It doesn’t take faith to believe undeniable facts. Consider what he wrote:              

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the  twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” (cf. 1  Corinthians 15:12-20)

If, on the day of Jesus' crucifixion, the disciples had been given the same assignment—to respond using only punctuation marks, what would they have done? I believe they would most certainly have used a period. He was dead. Period. He was buried. Period. They would have to continue on alone. Period.              

Then something amazing happened. Early Sunday morning some of them dashed (- - -) to the place where they buried Him. When they arrived their hearts were filled with question marks (??? ) “Where did the guards go? Who moved the stone? Where is the body?” The angel would turn the question marks into exclamation marks (!!!!).

Luke 24:5-7 “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”             

By the end of the day news of the empty tomb came to the disciples, not just from the women, but through a number of witnesses. Over 500 witnesses of one simple truth—the grave was empty. Consider the unusual symbol on a keyboard, used as an insert mark  (^). Look at it carefully and you get the point of the resurrection. Jesus who had been crucified had now been raised in glory and appeared to them, not just alive, but victorious over death. And the news multiplied throughout the world. No more periods. No more question marks. Just exclamation marks (!). And I quote the declaration of the early church: “He is risen. He is risen indeed!”

That's what Easter is all about. It’s an exclamation of gratitude and praise for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and for the salvation His victory over death brought to us. And today we celebrate the truth of His promise:
 
John 11:25–26 “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

Earlier, in that same account, we find Jesus asking:              

John 11:16 “Do you believe this?”            

That’s such a great question (????? etc.) every one of the 365 days this year. Do we believe this, not just in part, not just a 99% but wholly believe this with 100% certainty.              

Romans 10:9 “…if you confess with  your mouth Jesus as Lord,  and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,  you will be saved.”              

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  

Talk about the open door to eternity (∞). So, I invite us to stop and pause (Period. Comma). Our Easter experience need not be negative (—) but it can be the most positive (+) day of our lives.    

The Easter story isn’t over. Our changed lives bear witness of the truth of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Thus I add another symbol—an asterisk (*) reminding us there is more to add to the story. So, add an ellipsis (. . .) to continue and add (+++) to my life story and yours. I remind us of Jesus’ words:              

Matthew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no  wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (King James Version).            

Jots and tittles are the smallest strokes of any writing. The closest English comparison to is the dot over the small case letters i and j. In other words, even smallest details regarding the promises made regarding the resurrections of Jesus Christ from the dead are important. And now, in italics, I finish with the words of one of my favorite Easter choruses:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know who holds the future,
Life is worth the living,
Just because He lives.  

Period. Period. Period—followed by an eternity of exclamation points!  

For Parents and Grandparents:             
1. Show the children a comma on a keyboard. Explain that a comma directs us to pause. “Using a comma, let’s pause and think about the Easter Story.”            
2. Make some small cards with various grammatical symbols, asking the children which symbol they would use to tell various aspects of the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.      

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation