Easter Message: The God Who Ran to Us

Easter Message: The God Who Ran to Us

Hey friend,

Picture this: a dusty tomb in the early morning light, the air heavy with the weight of grief. The women trudging toward it, hearts broken, spices in hand to anoint a body they loved. They’re expecting death. Finality. The end of the story. But then—oh, then—the stone’s rolled away, the tomb’s empty, and an angel’s voice cuts through the dawn: “He is not here! He is risen!” Can you feel the ground shift under their feet? That’s Easter, my friend. That’s the moment the world turned upside down, and it’s the moment I want to sit with you in today.

I’ve been reading this old saint, Irenaeus, from way back in the second century. He wrote this massive work called Against Heresies, taking on folks who were twisting the truth about Jesus. They were saying the body didn’t matter, that creation was junk, that only some elite few with secret knowledge could get to God. Sounds like a sci-fi plot, right? But Irenaeus wasn’t having it. He grabbed the Gospel with both hands and shouted, “No! God loves this world—dirt, flesh, all of it. He became one of us to save all of us!” And Easter? That’s the proof.

Irenaeus says something that sticks with me: “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of His great love for mankind, became what we are, that He might make us what He is” (Against Heresies, 5.Preface). That’s the Easter story in a sentence. Jesus didn’t just float down for a cameo. He got dirty, walked our roads, felt our pain, and died our death. Then He busted out of that tomb—not as a ghost, not as a metaphor, but in a real, scarred, glorious body. Irenaeus is crystal clear: “He assumed actual flesh” (Against Heresies, 3.22). Why? Because God’s not ashamed of you, your body, your story. He’s redeeming it all.

I remember a time I felt like that tomb—sealed up, done. I was in my twenties, chasing dreams that left me empty, convinced I’d messed up too bad for God to care. But Easter reminds me of what Irenaeus fought for: Jesus didn’t come for the perfect. He came for the broken, the doubters, the ones who feel like their story’s over. He went down into the grave, Irenaeus says, even preaching to the souls who’d died long before Him (Against Heresies, 4.27.2). Nobody’s too far gone. That’s Easter hope. That’s the God who runs to us.

Those heretics Irenaeus was battling? They wanted to split the world into “spiritual good, physical bad.” But Easter says, “Not so fast.” When Jesus rose, He didn’t ditch His body. He ate fish, broke bread, let Thomas touch His scars. Irenaeus puts it like this: Christ’s resurrection “confirms the preservation of our bodies” (Against Heresies, 5.31.1). Your life, your struggles, your laughter, your tears—they’re not throwaways. God’s weaving them into a story that ends in glory. One day, because Jesus rose, you’ll rise too, whole and radiant, in a body made new.

And here’s the wild part: this isn’t just for a select few. Irenaeus saw the Church as this big, messy, beautiful family, “scattered throughout the world” but holding one faith, like a house with a million rooms (Against Heresies, 1.10.2). Easter’s for everybody—every nation, every story, every heart that says, “Jesus, I need You.” In a world that loves to divide, the empty tomb unites us. It says God’s love is bigger than our differences, stronger than our failures.

So this Easter, let’s lean into what Irenaeus called “the glory of God”—a human being “fully alive” (Against Heresies, 4.20.7). Let’s laugh a little louder, hug a little tighter, and live a little braver, because the grave is empty. Let’s push back against the lies that say you’re not enough, that this world’s too broken, that hope’s a fairy tale. Jesus is alive, friend, and He’s calling your name, just like He did Mary’s outside that tomb.

I’m praying for you this Easter, that you’d feel the pulse of that resurrection life in your bones. The God who became flesh, died, and rose again is still running to you, arms wide open. Step into that love. It’s yours. Forever.

He is Risen! And because He is, so are we.

Happy Easter,