Scripture for Today: Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Growing up, my Mother’s Easter table was often graced with this lily. This beautiful flower is also called, “white-robed apostles of hope.” There is symbolism in the white color representing the purity of Christ.  The trumpet shape of the flower brings to mind the trumpeting of the message of resurrection. But what impresses me is that all this beauty could come from a dirty unremarkable bulb. For at least three years its bulb stays underground in the dark before bursting forth to flower.

Today’s verse comes from a discussion Jesus had with the Pharisees asking for a sign. Here, Jesus predicts the three days He will spend in the heart of the earth following His death. Those three days were not unlike what Jonah experienced. It was during those three days that despair was so keenly felt by all who had hoped in Christ. All who had looked to Jesus to be their deliverer must have felt betrayed and defeated. It looked as if Satan had won. But then…death could not hold him!

There may be three dark days, three dark years or even thirty during which He may ask me to wait for a positive outcome. But because of Christ’s resurrection, I have hope. His victory over death ensures mine. And even the darkest time can be seen as “momentary” compared to the glorious future He has prepared for me! (II Cor. 4:17) One day I will shed this dirty bulb-like body and burst forth, flowering for an eternity in a new resurrected body! All because He died and rose again for me. His resurrection gives me new life, eternal life and life now that can be abundant!

Thank you Lord, for the hope You give.