Encountering The Game Changer
No other year has the message of Easter hit home like it did this year. A few weeks out from the holiday, my sister texted me the concerning news that my two-year-old niece was unwell. They had admitted her to the hospital for pneumonia. We prayed for her and believed that she would recover.
A week later, unexpectedly, my niece’s health took a dramatic turn for the worse and within a few short hours, her life hung in the balance.
The attending doctor, with decades of respiratory experience, told my sister and her husband that they were out of options and that she would not survive the night. We began to pray and intercede as her life hung in the balance.
Another doctor, from the leading Children’s Hospital in their city, who was off duty that evening, lived nearby. Responding to the emergency, she arrived at the hospital and against all odds, worked to stabilize my niece, allowing her to be transferred to the specialty unit at the other hospital.
My niece is only alive today because of this miraculous intervention. That doctor was the game-changer in her life that night.
As we reached Easter, I had a new appreciation for the work of Jesus upon the cross.
Jesus was not just a game-changer but The Game Changer for humanity. Through his sacrifice, sin and death were defeated. Isaiah prophesied Christ’s miraculous intervention in humanity’s situation in Chapter 25:7 when he declared:
“On this mountain, he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations, he will swallow up death forever.” (Isaiah 25:7 NIV)
When Jesus first came to earth, everywhere He went He changed people’s lives. He healed the sick (Matthew 12:15 NIV), He forgave their sins (Matthew 9:1-8 NIV), He raised the dead (John 11:38-44 NIV). All of which pointed to His love for humanity and His identity as Messiah.
It was no wonder then that Mary wept as she approached the tomb on that third day after his death. He had changed her life forever, and then He was gone. Crucified and laid out in a tomb, her love for him drove her to be near despite the facts.
Desperate to be near him, even after death she came searching for him. However, there was no peace, no consolation to be had. Things went from bad to worse as she arrived at the tomb and discovered that his body had disappeared.
Despairingly, Mary searching for Jesus. Maybe she had come clinging to the promise of Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
“And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all your heart”-Jeremiah 29:13.
She could not comprehend what she saw; a stone removed and two angels sitting where Jesus should be. She stumbled back outside in confusion and pain.
It was then that He appeared.
In her distraught state, she did not even recognise him; blinded no doubt by her tears. Then He spoke to her, (with deep kindness and compassion, I imagine) and He drew near.
He asked, “Woman why are you weeping? Who are you seeking?” (John 20:15 ESV)
In her grief, she momentarily missed the answer she frantically sought. Maybe that was because Mary came looking for the wrong Jesus.
Mary came looking for the crucified Christ, but He no longer existed.
Now, there was only Jesus, the resurrected Christ. He stood before her, the fulfilment of every promise He had made before His death. (John 2:19 NIV)
It was this moment that took my breath away on Easter Sunday as I prayed over my fragile niece. The truth of Jesus’s words to Martha in John 11:25 (NIV), that He IS the resurrection and the life, had stood the test of death. He had defeated the final foe for humanity, once and for all.
“Woman why are you weeping? Who are you seeking?”
Those words echoed through my mind as I prayed for my niece.
I stilled myself and answered “You Lord, I seek you. The risen Christ, who heals the sick and raises the dead. Bring life and healing to Lily my Jesus. You are her game-changer now.”
It was in that moment that I realized we don’t have to settle for the tomb any longer because Jesus did not. In Him, we have conquered death too and can have an abundant life as He promised in John 10:10 (NIV).
As we continue to declare this truth over my niece, her health is being restored and she will be able to return home with her family. Praise the name of our risen Lord Jesus!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charissa Steffens is a writer and teacher. She hosts the podcast Abiding Matter with Charissa Steffens on Charisma Podcast Network and writes for various online Christian publications. She holds a Bachelor of Business, Post Graduate Diploma in Education, and a Master of Arts (Biblical Studies). To contact Charissa or learn more visit her website Abiding Matters.