Good Friday and Easter Means Take Him Home with You

Luke 24:1-35

I don't know what you think about when Good Friday and Easter roll around. Maybe it's childhood memories-candy, egg hunts, itchy clothes, and smiling (or slightly terrifying) Easter Bunny photos.And while the bunnies have thankfully improved, some traditions have needed to go-like that 18th-century Pennsylvania Dutch belief that naughty children received horse dung instead of eggs! Some things should definitely change.

But one thing that should never change is the meaning of Good Friday and Easter: Jesus died, and He is alive! That's not just a historical headline. It's a living reality. He ISrisen, not was. His resurrection isn't a moment to merely remember. It's a truth to embrace. Especially when life doesn't go the way we hoped.

Risen from what? Just three days earlier, our precious Savior's lifeless body had been laid on a cold slab of stone, bloodied, beatenandmotionless. Wrapped in linen and spices. No breath in His lungs. No pulse in His veins. He was truly dead.

Why? One word: Love. God's love for the world sent His only Son to the cross to pay for the sins of humanity. Jesus paid the price we couldn't. And by believing in Him alone, those sins are forgiven. It's a stunning thought! The same Jesus who healed the blind and the paralyzed, raised the dead, cast out demons, calmed storms with His voice, and restored the leprous was now powerless to escape death.

In Luke 24, two Good Friday grief-stricken disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, discouraged and disillusioned. They were grieving the loss of their Lord. They say in verse 21, "But we had hoped…" And maybe you've said those words too: "I had hoped the treatment would work." "We had hoped our marriage would survive." "I had hoped I'd feel better by now." "We had hoped he had taken a turn for the better."

But as they walk, Jesus Himself joins them. They don't recognize Him at first, but He's there. And here's the hope of Easter: Jesus is always closer than you think. Even when we don't see Him, He's walking with us. And something amazing happens when they arrive athome: they invite Him in. In verse 30, the Guest becomes the Host. Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and suddenly their eyes are opened! They recognize Him. Their hearts are set on fire. Their hope is restored. The Risen Savior is in the room.

Friend, this Good Friday and Easter, don't just hear about Jesus. Take Him home with you. Invite Him into your discouragement, your questions, your weariness. Let the One who took your place on the cross become the One who leads your life. He offers more than comfort, not a temporary fix, but a resurrection reality.

Once he rose to prominence, Franklin Roosevelt offered a "New Deal" during the Great Depression, restoring confidence to a shaken nation. But Jesus, who rose to prominence not through policy or election, but through humiliation on a cross-offers something far better: Not a new deal, but a NEW LIFE. Good Friday and Easter Sunday mean that your yesterday doesn't have to define your tomorrow. Sound good?

So, as you reflect on Him this Holy Week, invite Jesus in. Let the Guest become the Host in your home and your heart.

He IS risen!

Pastor Bernie Cueto serves as Palm Beach Atlantic University's (PBA) campus pastor and is a professor of biblical and theological studies. He is actively involved in leading and developing the spiritual culture of the PBA campus, including leading weekday campus chapel services and being available for pastoral support and prayer. He received a B.A. in English literature at Florida International University and a Th.M. in biblical exposition and pastoral leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary, where he completed his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies.