“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.” — John 20:1 (NIV)
She Came to Mourn What Was Lost
Mary did not go to the tomb expecting a miracle. She went because of her love and grief for Jesus. She is moved to act, to see Jesus again. Mary rises early before sunrise, traveling in the dark. Her going does not make sense. She knows that she must go to the tomb. There is a pressing need to show up. Sometimes all you can do is show up to where you last left what mattered most.
That is what Lent invites us to do this season. Show up. In the quiet to let go. Bearing ourselves to being vulnerable and honest about what is holding us back. We are holding tightly to fear, control, old identities, dead relationships, worn out versions of ourselves that no longer serve the life God is calling us toward.
For the past forty days, we practiced surrendering. Surrendering is not easy. It feels like loss even when it is preparation.
Leave It in the Tomb
Easter is a declaration over everything you released this Lent. What you released does not come back unless you allow it to return. The tomb was not just where Jesus was placed. It is where everything He carried went with Him. And when He rose, He did not gather it back up. He left it there. It is finished, sealed by His victory.
Whatever you laid down this Lent season, Easter is God’s declaration that the burial is real and the release is permanent. Release the grief, bitterness, the version of yourself built on someone else’s expectations or the fear that is masquerading as wisdom. Leave it in the tomb.
Courage Is What Comes Next
Mary’s story does not end at an empty tomb; it is the beginning. She is launched on her mission. She came to the tomb depressed but left full of light spreading the most world-altering news in human history. This is the essence of Easter. Being courageous to move forward into what God is raising up in the space that surrendering created.
What you have released this Lent is not an end. It is the preparation to make strides to live in your purpose. The stone is no longer blocking your path. You do not have to roll it away. God is waiting for you to show up, walking forward into his plan for your life.
Easter Is Your Permission
The resurrection is God’s answer for whatever door is too heavy, next step that feels uncertain, and new beginning that is too fragile to trust. God specializes in moving the immovable, raising what is buried and turning mourners into messengers. He is doing it in your life right now. Walk forward. Easter is your permission.
What did this Lent season prepare you to leave behind? And what is God raising up in its place?
