In a novel titled Little Bee by Chris Cleave, a young woman named Little Bee and her family lived on what became valuable Nigerian oil deposits. Her home, land, and community were all mowed down and burned by those who wanted the land for its oil. Little Bee and her older sister were the sole survivors in her village, where they found themselves with nothing.

Only one Bible remained in their village, and all of its pages were missing after the 46th verse of the 27th chapter of Matthew: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  She knew nothing about the gospel story beyond that moment on the cross. It all ended there on Good Friday with Jesus’ cry of despair, which closely mirrored her own. 

What if those were the last words you knew of the gospel? For the women, including Jesus’ own mother, that was all they knew as they went to the tomb with heavy hearts. If you have a heavy heart this day, remember that the story of good news doesn’t end with Matthew 27:46! 

We can be assured that God is with us and loves us through all our struggles: “I will be with you forever,” Jesus said to his disciples at the very end of the gospel of Matthew in chapter 28. This wasn’t the end! In many ways, it was just the beginning.

On this Easter morning, let us all live in the hope, joy, and peace of the risen Lord!