"And Jesus Was Alive Again!"

My Easter post to the church newsletter.

When A. was a toddler, we taught him about the resurrection for our Easter Family Home Evening.  He learned it well enough that he would repeatedly tell the story.  My favorite part was when he would get to the end.  He would throw his arms up in the air and joyfully exclaim, "And Jesus was alive again!"  It amused me that he was so excited about it.  Typically we are reverent and reflective about the events of that Easter morning, but perhaps we neglect to recognize the joy we surely felt as we rejoiced on that day.

We chose our Heavenly Father's plan in the council in the pre-earth life.  We voted, trusting that our brother, Jesus Christ, would do what He said He would do.  Everything rested on Him going through with His part of the plan.  We must have known Him well enough to put all our faith in Him.   Jesus did fulfill His role in the plan; Jesus did what we entrusted him to do.  He paid for our sins and then He rose after three days in the tomb, conquering death.  President Hinckley said, "Easter morning...is the Lord’s day, when we celebrate the greatest victory of all time, the victory over death."  (April '96 conference, emphasis added)  

Jesus made it so we are not subject to the grave.  There IS life after this earthly existence.  All of us will one day have our bodies reunited with our spirits and have the opportunity to live again in our Father's presence.  Maybe we should feel the exclamation of joy in our hearts whenever we think about that momentous morning when "Jesus was alive again!" 

"He is risen!  He is risen!  Tell it out with joyful voice.

He has burst his three days' prison.  Let the whole wide earth rejoice.

Death is conquered. Man is free. Christ has won the victory!" (Hymn #199)