Easter - Are You Coming With Me?

​On Good Friday, when Jesus was dying on a cross, many of his followers were long gone. Death wasn't capable of taking out the savior they'd been waiting on. So the man hanging on a cross - he couldn't possibly be The one.

And I know they had to be asking, with sadness and disappointment, where is he going....

Then Jesus did what he said he'd do. What he said he'd do and they didn't believe. He rose from the dead. Not to tell them I told you so, but to make so what he had told them.

Then Jesus, finally having their attention, took His turn to ask a question: are you coming with me?

When authorities asked Peter - one of Jesus' disciples - if he knew Jesus - on three separate occasions - before Jesus hung on the cross - Peter said no. I don't know that man.

Peter was caught up in 'where is he going?'

Then Jesus rose from the dead. And he was eating breakfast with Peter. Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? When Jesus asked him that, he used the Greek work for love - Agape - which means unconditional love.

I think this was Jesus' way of asking Peter - now that you know where I was going, are you truly ready to follow me? Now that you know where I'm going, are you coming with me?

Each time Peter said yes - I love you Jesus - Jesus responded with a challenge: then take care of his people.

Feed my lambs. Tend to my sheep. Feed my sheep, he told Peter.

You know, I see a lot of Good Friday posts that talk about the story isn't over with the darkness of Friday because we know the light of Sunday is coming. But I think Sunday is a good day to remember - the story isn't over with Sunday either.

Jesus didn't rise from the dead to put a big exclamation point on Easter weekend. He rose from the dead to ask us - are you coming with me.

He rose from the dead to say, I saw your post on Good Friday proclaiming you knew Sunday was coming. Well it's here. And I am here to ask you:

Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?

I'm not a bible scholar by any stretch, but I'm not sure of any other place in the bible where Jesus repeated a question three times. Is it possible he saved his big three question moment for the resurrection for a reason?

Is it possible Jesus waited until he'd answered our big question - where are you going - to pose his big question - are you coming with me - as part of a plan?

Easter isn't an answser. Easter isn't the end of the story.

Easter is the beginning of the story, and it starts with a question.

Are you coming with me? Do you truly love me without conditions? Are you going to take care of my people?

If so, if the answer is yes - I think Jesus would say, today isn't a day to celebrate that I rose from the dead. Today is a day to celebrate that you're coming with me.

Jesus went through an awful lot to ask us a question. Easter is a great time to unconditionally thing about our answer.