Empty. The tomb where the ravaged body of their Lord had been laid. Fear and joy filled their hearts as the women ran to tell other followers of Jesus. He was not there. He had risen.

It was the dawn of a new day. Easter. &uot;Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples,&uot; said the angel, dressed in garments as white as snow. The women stood awestruck that day, as related in Matthew 28.

And even today, with all the hope that the resurrection evokes, the empty tomb confronts the core of every Christian’s faith. As the Rev. Chuck Meyer, Episcopal priest and author of Austin, Texas, says, &uot;It would be quite enough to tell the story of a good, decent man who went around helping the very people who praised him with alleluias on Palm Sunday and crucified him five days later. …But to top it off, we are confronted with the end of the story, the denouement, the most terrifying part of all &045;&045; the empty tomb.&uot;

Emptying a part of the journey

Emptying is important to consider at Easter time and always, said the Rev. Dayna Goff, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Natchez.

&uot;Christ emptied himself as a servant, and we’re called upon to empty ourselves in that same way,&uot; Goff said. &uot;We have to empty our calendars and be where we need to be every day, helping the needy, being Christ’s hands and Christ’s feet. You fill yourself, take what you learn and empty it daily, thinking about what your priorities are.&uot;

For a pastor, the filling up and the emptying, particularly during the Lenten and Easter season, calls for study, reflection and re-experiencing the events of the cross and the resurrection, said the Rev. Brock Watson, pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

It can be a lonely time, separated from family rather than sitting in the pew with them participating in the worship. &uot;But it is a wonderful time to be a minister, to accomplish the preparation required. And I worship with my congregation,&uot; Watson said. &uot;I am a worship leader, but I am also a participant.&uot;

For the lay worshiper, the same meditative approach to Easter provides a fuller experience of the season. Structure gives purpose to the empty tomb and the emptying of one’s self to Christ’s work. That is the beauty of the church, Watson said.

&uot;Church provides the structure for people. Much of it is hard work, keeping up your membership and continuing the work of the Lord. It requires discipline, but it gives back so much to one who does it. You run the race, cross the finish line and start all over again,&uot; he said.

In faithful church attendance, the Christian is more likely to develop a meaningful devotional life, to make time for reflection and prayer, Watson said.

Filling up. Emptying. That personal growth through worship, personal prayer time and the sometimes hard work of the church-going Christian pays off, Goff said. &uot;We mature spiritually along life’s way. We experience pains and joys and have drawn strength from God that allows us to minister to others,&uot; she said.

Resurrection hope and faith

The resurrection is the central theme of Christianity, said the Rev. Paul Hays, pastor of Natchez Church of God. &uot;It vindicates all that Christ had ministered and preached about. If there had been no resurrection, Jesus would have been a false prophet, and death would still be an unknown. His resurrection verifies our resurrection,&uot; Hays said.

Nonetheless, bringing the Easter message to a 21st-century mind is a challenge, Hays said, furthering the symbolism of the empty tomb.

&uot;The thing that comes back to me is the rolling away of the stone at the tomb. We have to roll away stones, too &045;&045; the stone of fear, the stone of unbelief, the stone of uncertainty. We have to move those things out of the way.&uot;

Mike Roboski, director of campus ministry at Cathedral School in Natchez, said the resurrection offers hope and a message no one else has been able to offer. &uot;And it offers not just life everlasting in heaven but tells us how we should live here on Earth.&uot;

Significant in the story told in all four Gospels is the appearance of women in the resurrection events. &uot;Jesus’ crucifixion is a historical event, whereas the resurrection is a faith event,&uot; Roboski said.

&uot;People still look for evidence, but one of the greatest statements of proof is that the men who wrote the Gospels all had women as witnesses to the resurrection. This was 2000 years ago, when women were secondary in society.&uot;

Easter is about the hope we have for resurrection. It requires faith to have that hope, Watson said.

&uot;We’re enabled to have that faith because of what God did with Jesus. Our hope resides in our belief,&uot; he said. &uot;Jesus is the name of our species. What happened to him we believe will happen to us.&uot;

With many personal and financial

difficulties confronting Natchez residents and some members of her own congregation, Goff said, the hope provided by Easter is crucial today.

&uot;In a world where things are constantly changing, what is the resurrection calling us out to do and be,&uot; she said. &uot;There is a lot of grief and pain out there. People have lost jobs. Some are trying to figure out what to do.&uot;

Easter should be a time to reach out to others. &uot;We are an Easter people, children of the resurrection. We celebrate a living God through a faith that should be living,&uot; Goff said. &uot;There is hope in the midst of the turmoil that we know is our world today.&uot;

Full tombs and prisoners of hope

The Episcopal priest and author Meyer points out in his book, &uot;God’s Laughter and Other Heresies,&uot; that the minor prophet Zechariah coined the phrase &uot;prisoner of hope&uot; to describe the people of God.

As for tombs, too many people prefer them full, he said. &uot;We would have our tombs full &045;&045; full of memories, skeletons, guilts, hatreds, bitterness, griefs, unfulfilled loves and hopes, injustices, unrealized expectations of ourselves and others. We are comfortable with our tombs full.&uot;

Then comes Jesus, Meyer said, offering new possibilities and new life &045;&045; opportunities to become prisoners of hope.

&uot;To be a prisoner of hope would be to live in eager expectation, refusing to bow to the idols of despair and greed, ignoring the faddish demands of societal peers to conform, condone and consume, denying that more is better, might is right and possessions are power,&uot; he said.

Was it that kind of hope &045;&045; the kind provided by the resurrection, that one could become a prisoner of hope, one of God’s people &045;&045;

that led to the rapid spread of Christianity around the world?

Hays said no other religious system offers that kind of hope that is beyond the grave. &uot;I glory in the fact that the Roman Empire could not be conquered by any other nations, but this little band of people brought Rome to its knees. The Greek and the Roman worlds were amazed,&uot; he said.

&uot;And our world today needs to know that Jesus rose from the dead so all of us could have a better life. We don’t have to devour each other but can live in peace and harmony.&uot;

That is the crux of the Easter message, Hays said. &uot;I remember a quote that I read. I don’t know who said it, but it fits. ‘The resurrection is God’s amen to men’s alleluias.’&uot;