Magyar Egyház, 1970 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-03-01 / 3. szám
12 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ and over that great latin word, Vivat, He lives. Yes, He lives, here and above this world, he lives as our Redeemer in our hearts and lives. He lives, He lives You ask me how I know He lives: He lives in my heart. Bertram J. Sathmary: Hilt Without Cnb (John 20: 1-18) A father and a mother lost three children in a tragic accident a short time before Easter. Only their three year old girl escaped. On Easter morning, the father, the mother and the child were in Sunday School. The father was superintendent of the Sunday School. He led the assembly in worship and read the Easter message from the Bible without a break in his voice. Some in the audience were weeping, but the faces of the father and mother remained serene and calm. “How can they do it?” men and women a?ked each other as they left church. A fifteen year old boy, walking home with his father said: “Dad, I guess the superintendent and his wife really believe all of the Easter Message!” “Of course”, answered the father, “all Christians believe it!” I know, but not as they believe it!”, said the boy. Yes, all Christians the world over really believe the Easter message in general, but many do not apply it to themselves when they are confronted with the great crisis of life. The Easter message should have a definite and real meaning for us all. Easter is the brightest spot on the horizon of our life. No greater morning has dawned upon the world and history than that Easter when the Tomb of joseph of Arimathea was empty and Jesus was seen alive at five different times that first day of the week. Easter tells us of a greater miracle than that of spring with its new-born leaf and flowers, sunshine and warmth. Easter answers the age-old question, which Job asked: If a man die, shall he live again? The Risen Lord replies on Easter morning with the positive assurance: Because I live, ye shall live also. The Easter message is death defying and gives us hope beyond the grave. Easter enabled the martyrs of the first century to stand at Caesar’s box seat in the Roman arena and exclaim as they faced the hungry lions: “Hail Caeser! We who are about to die salute you!” Death had lost its sting. Fear and uncertainty fled from the Christian hearts, all because they knew and believed that Jesus rose the third day from the dead. Easter proclaims the mightiest act of God?$ omnipotence, greater than that of the creation of the world. Christ’s resurrection from the dead has changed our attitude toward death. In Christ there is no death. The Easter fact of the empty tomb has transformed the funeral from an hour of defeat and despair to an hour of victory and hope. This makes a man like St. Paul say: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Just this past week I visited one of our finest Christian shut-ins and she brought up the subject of death. She said: “I am like a little girl standing on tip-toe and peeping through the door on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. I am not afraid to die! I am ready and will be happy to go, not because I have suffered or because I have pain, but because death is a promotion to an everlasting and better life. I know in whom I believe.” How can a person have this triumphant attitude? It is because of what happened on the first Easter. Then and there Christ proved that He was Master of death as well as of life. For the Christian eternal life is not just a dream and a hope .. .it is a fact (/ Cor. 15:19-22). Death is not a nasty, horrible word that should never be mentioned, but it should be a welcome word for it is the beginning of life eternal in Christ. Do you fear death? If you do, you are not alone. Most men dread the thought of death. Many keep themselves busy so they stop thinking about it. Many hope that it will come quickly, so they will not have time to think about it. Others may push it out of their minds because they think it is a long way off. But at least once a year, many millions of Christians think about death on Good Friday. Death is a time when we turn our lives over to God. It is a time when some will be happy to come face to face with their Maker, while others will wish that they had spent more time with Him on earth. After death, our souls are in God’s hands, and He gives each his due reward: life everlasting in heaven or hell... A news report from Yugoslavia tells of a man who was shocked when, standing in a bathtub, he, touched an electric wire. A doctor was called and he pronounced him dead. The man was buried in a crypt under the cemetery’s chapel. In due time the man regained consciousness. He opened the lid of his coffin and crawled out. He called the caretaker but the man fled in terror. Later the caretaker got control of himself and returned to let the man out of the crypt.
