From Darkest Night to Brightest Day

03/24/24 – 03/27/24

His Power in Us

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  03/25/24

On Easter Sunday, we enjoy the good news of the resurrection. We sing songs about the empty tomb. We listen to the pastor tell us how Christ conquered death. But then something happens. For too many of us, Monday rolls around, and nothing has changed.

Yet the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. The reality of the resurrection demands a change. We cannot be the same if we truly understand its power.

Read John 20:1-8. Simon Peter had been part of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. Yet when Christ was arrested, Peter was so scared that he denied even knowing Jesus—three times! Peter saw what was happening on that dark night: Jesus would be killed, and he might be next. Out of doubt and a desire for self-preservation, Peter abandoned Jesus when he should have been by His side.

Like Peter, we are often guilty of living on the wrong side of Easter. How often do we live our lives as if Jesus died on the cross but never rose again? How often do we doubt His promises in the midst of the tests and trials of life?

When Peter came to the tomb on Sunday morning, he made a life-changing discovery: “He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen” (John 20:6-7). This was the moment when his doubts gave way to hope and soon to resurrection power.

In Acts 2, we see a transformed, emboldened Peter. No longer denying Christ for fear of death, now Peter is declaring Christ boldly and publicly: “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24).

What happened to this fearful fisherman? He experienced the power of Christ’s resurrection. He discovered there was no stopping Jesus.

Are you living on the wrong side of Easter—or do you truly believe that “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you” (Romans 8:11)?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I confess I have often lived on the wrong side of Easter, doubting Your promises or questioning Your power. Like Peter, help me to know the reality of Your resurrection in such a way that I am forever changed. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).