Scripture: John 11:25
Easter Sunday 2026

“Half-Hangit Maggie” Dickson didn’t set out to become a legend. Maggie Dickson was born near Edinburgh, Scotland in the early 1700s. She married a fisherman named Patrick. For a while her life looked like standard early 18^th century stuff: work, scarcity, church, and the occasional crisis. But then her husband was gone. Some say he deserted; others that he was press-ganged into naval service. Either way, Maggie was left with limited options. So, Maggie went looking for work. While working, Maggie got pregnant—traditionally said to be after an affair with the innkeeper’s son where she worked. In 1700 Scotland, an unmarried pregnancy wasn’t just scandalous; it was catastrophic. So, Maggie concealed her pregnancy. That concealment was the legal and cultural spark that would light the fuse under her life.

The baby’s body ended up in the river and was discovered. Maggie was identified, arrested, and taken to Edinburgh for trial. Scotland had a brutal legal framework around concealed pregnancies and dead infants, rooted in the idea that concealment was evidence of guilt. A woman who concealed her pregnancy and didn’t ask for assistance at the birth was presumed to have murdered the child, even if there were no signs of injury. 

So, on September 2, 1724, Maggie was hanged at the Grassmarket, the city’s longstanding execution site. Maggie was pronounced dead. Her friends and family claimed her body. She was placed in a coffin and loaded onto a cart to be taken for burial. But on the route, the cart stopped at local inn. People went inside for refreshment, because nothing says “closure” like a quick pint while your loved one’s coffin waits outside. And then: knocking. Actual, physical knocking. The coffin lid was opened. Maggie was alive. Here the details vary: some say she sat up, others that she groaned. Some say she was in surprisingly decent shape given the circumstances. But what made Maggie famous was that she revived after being hanged and declared dead, while sealed in a coffin on the way home.

Now the authorities faced an awkward question. Maggie had been sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence had been carried out. She had, in fact, been hanged. She simply refused to cooperate with the expectation of staying dead. But you can’t lawfully execute someone twice for the same conviction. The punishment had been imposed. The state had done its part. She had been sentenced to the gallows, and to the gallows she went. 

It is unclear whether the authorities feared public backlash or whether the whole event felt like divine intervention and nobody wanted to tell the Almighty that He needed to reconsider. Regardless, Maggie Dickson was spared a sequel to the worst day of her life. 

Because Scotland knows how to market, Maggie’s name ended up on a pub. Most get a headstone. Maggie got a drinking establishment.

Today is Easter when we celebrate that Jesus is resurrected. Unlike Maggie Dickson, Jesus didn’t revive. He wasn’t resuscitated. He was resurrected, alive forever. Unfortunately, Maggie Dickson eventually died again. Not Jesus! 

A lot of people say, “I believe in the resurrection; I just don’t understand it.” 84% of people who never go to church believe Jesus rose from the dead. It’s a historical fact. The city of Jerusalem and the whole Roman Empire knew about it. It was big news. If CNN had been there, they’d have had it live. There are at least 15 historical references to Jesus meeting people, touching people, and talking with people after He was crucified. One time he cooked breakfast for some people. One time he talked to about 500 people after he had risen from the dead. A lot of people saw him. 

But what does His resurrection mean? It means three things: 

• Jesus is who He claimed to be
• Jesus has the power He claimed to have
• Jesus did what He promised to do

1. The resurrection means Jesus is who He claimed to be. 

InJohn 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.” Jesus made some outrageous claims when he was here on earth. He said things like, “I’m God. I’m perfect. I’m the only way to heaven. I’m the savior of the world.” A lot of people try to make Jesus a good teacher, but a good teacher would never say that. I could teach you good moral truths, and you might say, “Scott’s a good teacher.” But if I started calling myself God, you wouldn’t think I was a good teacher. Jesus was either who He said He was, or the biggest liar who ever lived.

One day Jesus cleared the moneychangers out of the temple. They’d turned the temple into something like a County Fair, so He drove them all out. They said, “What right do you have to do this?” He said, “Because I’m God.” They said, “Prove it!” He said, “I will. Three days after you kill me, I’ll come back to life.” His resurrection backs up who He claimed to be.

In John 14:6 Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can get to God the Father except by means of Me. That’s a strong claim. He said, “I’m the way.” Jesus didn’t say, I’m one way, or I’m one of the ways. 

Saying “all roads get to heaven” is dumb. It’s like saying I can dial any phone number to call home. There’s only one number that will get me home. Jesus said, I am the truth. A promise of any other way is a lie.   He claimed to be God. No one can get to God the Father except by Me.

2. The resurrection means Jesus has the power He claimed to have. 

Jesus said, All power on earth and in heaven is given to Me (Matthew 28:18). Because Jesus is God, He can do anything and everything God can do. In John 10:18 He said: Nobody takes my life from me. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again.

No force could keep Jesus in the tomb. The Romans killed him, put him in a tomb, put a big stone in front, sealed it with the Roman seal, and posted a 24-hour guard. They were trying to prevent the inevitable. Jesus said: “They can’t stop me. I can give my life away and take it up again.”

3. The resurrection means Jesus did what He promised to do. 

In Mark 10:34 Jesus said: They will mock and flog and kill me, but after three days I will come back to life. The cross was no surprise to Jesus. It was all part of God’s plan.

If you think about it, there’s some real humor in the Easter story. I mean, how would you feel if you’d been the guys who put Jesus to death? You publicly execute this man in front of thousands who see Him die, then you bury Him, a stone put over His tomb with a 24-hour guard. Three days later this guy’s up and walking around the city again. As the angel said: Don’t be frightened. I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. But He isn’t here. He’s come back to life again, just as He said He would (Matthew 28:5-6). Jesus did what He promised. 

When God makes a promise, you can count on it. That’s what Easter means. Because Jesus did rise, Jesus is who He said he was. He has the power that He said He had. He keeps the promises that He makes.

So what? Why does the resurrection matter? What difference does it make? It matters for three reasons. Because Jesus is who He claimed to be, has the power He claimed to have, and does what He promises to do.

The resurrection matters because my past can be forgiven. 

Have you ever been halfway through a project and wished you could start over? A lot of times people feel that way about life. They get halfway through and wish they could start over. We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t done, said things we wish we hadn’t said, and thought things we wish we hadn’t thought. We all have regrets and feel bad about things. We all have guilt.

Not long before she died in 1988, in a moment of surprising candor in television, Marghanita Laski, the famous novelist and secular humanist said, What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.

A fellow pastor received this letter: I’m 31 years old and divorced, though I fought the divorce bitterly. I feel bad. I have no hope for my future. Often I go home and cry, but there’s no one holding me when I cry. Nobody cares. Nothing changes, and I continue to fail. I’m stressed out emotionally, and I feel I’m on the verge of a collapse. Something is very wrong. But I feel so hurt and embittered that I can scarcely react or relate to others anymore. I feel as if I’m going to have to sit out the rest of my life in the penalty box. The tragedy is that I know people like that. They can’t get on with the present and the future because they’re stuck in the past. Some guilt has tied them down. Sometimes they’re letting a former relationship mess up their current relationship. They say, “I guess I’ll just have to live with this the rest of my life.” They’re running around with this emotional baggage, and they’re wondering why they’re not happy.

But here’s the good news. Colossians 2:14 says: He has forgiven all our sins and canceled every debt we owe. Christ has done away with it by nailing it to the cross. That’s God’s pardon program. Jesus nailed it all to the cross. He paid for my guilt. That means I don’t have to pay for it. He was hung for my hang-ups. Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, so I can quit nailing myself to the cross. He wants to forgive your past, cancel every debt you owe—emotional debts, relational debts, sins. All canceled.

How long do you remember a bill that’s been paid? I don’t remember it at all. Once it’s paid, I forget it. The point is this: Once God’s forgiven it, I can forget it. That’s good news! Even if there was no such thing as heaven or hell—and there is—it’d be worth to become a Christian just to have a clear conscience; just to know I’m free from all those things I’ve done wrong. Because Jesus is who He said He was, my past can be forgiven. I don’t have to carry a load of guilt around. As Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Did you have an Etch-A-Sketch? What happens if you mess up? You flip it, shake it, turn it back over, and there’s a clean slate. This is God’s Etch-A-Sketch verse in the Bible. God wants to wipe our slate clean.

You can walk out of here today knowing that every single thing you’ve ever done wrong is forgiven. That’s good news. No condemnation! 

Jesus Christ didn’t come to rub it in; He came to rub it out. He said: I didn’t come to condemn the world; I came to save it. I want to change you, I want to help you, I want to give you a new beginning, I want to give you a clear conscience.

The resurrection matters because my present problems can be managed.

What problems are keeping you up at night? Much of life is unmanageable. 

Christian author, Charlie Shedd, who wrote about marriage and family, once said: Before we had kids, I used to travel across the country teaching a lecture I called ‘The Ten Commandments for Raising Perfect Kids.’ After he and Martha had their first child, he changed the title to ‘Ten Hints for Parents.’ After their second child, he relabeled the lecture, ‘A Few Tentative Suggestions for Fellow Strugglers.’ He said after the arrival of their third child, he gave up speaking on the topic altogether.

Maturity is when you figure out you can’t have it all figured out. Maturity is when you realize you can’t manage all life is going to send you. But God can. That’s good news. I can’t control everything in my life, but God can. I want to hook up with Him and let Him control it and ask Him for help.

You and I were never meant to live this life on our own power. God wants to have a relationship with you. Here’s the good news: Ephesians 1:19-20 says: And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. The same power that enabled Jesus to rise from death will help you rise above your problems. The same power God used at the resurrection 2,000 years ago can be used in your life right now. You don’t know what the future holds. I don’t either. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, neither do you. But it doesn’t matter, because even though it’s out of my control, it’s not out of God’s. He will give me the power to face it. Philippians 4:13 says: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

No problem is too big for God. No situation is hopeless if you’ll turn it over to Him. “I am ready for anything through the power of positive thinking”? No, it doesn’t say that. No. “I am ready for anything through the strength of Christ, who lives in me.” Why does the resurrection matter? Because my past can be forgiven, my present can be managed, and…

The resurrection matters because my future can be secure. 

The universal problems we’ve all got is death. Let’s face it—everybody dies. I’m going to die someday, and so are you. Only a fool would go through life unprepared for something inevitable. But sometimes we get so busy in the here and now, we don’t stop to think about what’s going to come.

People don’t like to talk about death. If you don’t believe me, invite your friends over, sit them down, serve them some coffee and pie, and say, “Let’s talk about death.” See what happens.

Everyone has a deep longing to know, “What’s going to happen after I die?” It’s obvious we’re going to spend more time on that side of eternity than on this side. Here we only spend 60, 70, maybe 80 years. This is the first inch of the yardstick. It’s preschool for what’s going to happen in eternity. As our culture ages, all of a sudden they’re becoming more interested in the hereafter.

There are a lot of misconceptions about heaven. Most of them come from movies with bad theology. But what’s it really going to be like? Let’s check it out with the source. When you go to the Bible, what does God say it’s really going to be like in heaven and hell? And this is essential, because one day you’re going to stand before God and you’re going to need to know the right answers.

Number One: Heaven is a perfect place. 

Total love, total peace, total joy, total perfection. No sin, no mistakes, no evil, no bad, no errors. It’s perfect in every area.

Number Two: The Bible says to go there, you have to be perfect, because only perfection can exist in heaven. 

You’re thinking, “Well thanks a lot. That leaves me out.” Yeah, it leaves me out, too. You say, “I’ll never make it if I have to be perfect.” Right! That’s the point. Neither will I. Neither will any of us, because none of us is perfect; we’ve all messed up.

There’s only one way the Bible says you can get to heaven. Most people believe in the performance plan. To earn it you only have to do this: never sin and always do what’s right for your entire life. Always make the right decision, always say the right thing…Just be perfect.

But none of us qualify for the Performance Plan. So, God came up with Substitution Plan. It’s simply this. You trust Jesus Christ when He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus was the only perfect person who ever lived. He was God and came so we could know what God is like. He came to pay our way to heaven. 

Pastor Ron Dunn took his young son to a carnival one time for his birthday. His son picked six boys to go with him, so Ron bought a roll of tickets. Every line he’d come up to, he’d pull off seven tickets and give them to all the kids. When they got to the Ferris wheel, all of a sudden there was this eighth kid with his hand out. Ron said, “Who are you?” The kid said, “I’m Johnny.” Ron said, “Who are you, Johnny?” Johnny said, “I’m your son’s new friend. And he said you would give me a ticket.” Ron asked me, “Do you think I gave him one? Absolutely.”

When you get to heaven you’ll say, “God, I can’t get in on my own effort. The only way I can get into heaven is because I’m a friend of Jesus Christ.” John 17:3 says: This is the way to have eternal life: by knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, the One He sent to earth. That’s what the Bible says. Jesus has already paid for your way to heaven. A Christian isn’t somebody who accepts a religion. A Christian is somebody who has a relationship with God. A Christian is somebody who has a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

People try different ways to get to heaven. Some people try what I call “salvation by sincerity.” It goes like this: “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” Just think that one through. You can be sincerely wrong. I read the other day about a pilot who sincerely flew into a mountain. I could pick up a glass of water and take a drink of it, sincerely thinking it’s water, but if it’s poisoned, I’d be sincerely dead.

Some people think you get to heaven by service: “I can do all these good things and work my way there.” That doesn’t work.

Some try “salvation by subtraction.” You give up a bunch of things and then you get to heaven: “I don’t drink, smoke, cuss, chew, run around with girls that do. I don’t do nothin’.” If being a Christian is just a matter of not doing things, then anybody who’s dead qualifies as a Christian.

Then some think they’ll get to heaven by ritual: “I’ll get baptized.” You can get baptized in the ocean until every fish knows you by your first name. Maybe you’ll join a church and think that will make you a Christian. Sitting in a church will make you a Christian as much as sitting in a chicken house will make you a chicken. If you joined the Lion’s Club does that make you a lion? You say you were born in the church. If you were born in the car does it make you a spare tire? Think it through! 

How about “salvation by heritage.” Your mother was a Christian. You grandmother was a Christian. So what? You have to make a personal decision yourself. That’s like saying you’re married because your mother, grandmother, were married. No, you’ve got to make a personal decision.

But my favorite is: “salvation by comparison”: “At least I’m better than so-and-so.” You’re probably better than me. I don’t doubt it. But God isn’t judging you according to me or anyone else. Saying, “I’m better than Hitler” is like saying, “I can bench press more than my grandmother.” God doesn’t grade on a curve. It’s perfection or zip! It has to be 100%.

What’s your source of hope? Hope means confidence in the Bible. Look at 1 Peter 1:3: We have been born again into a life full of hope through Christ rising from the dead.

Hope means you don’t fear death anymore. You’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die. You can’t really live unless you’re not afraid to die. How can you not be afraid to die? By making peace with God now.

Would you like to have everything you’ve ever done wrong completely forgiven? Would you like to have a clear conscience? Would you like to acquire a new power that would help you manage the problems in your present? Would you like to have your future secured?

That’s the difference Easter can make. Understanding why Easter happened—why Christ rose from the dead—is not enough. You’ve got to do something about it. You’ve got to take some action steps. 

Understanding what I’ve just talked about is not enough to get you into heaven. You’ve got to accept it and act on it. You need to say to God, “God, I’m scrapping my plans. I know I’ll never earn my way to heaven or be good enough. I’ve already blown it enough times to know I’m not going to hit 100%. So, I’m asking you to work your plan in my life. Jesus Christ, I want to trust you, follow you, get to know you and have a relationship.”

That’s how you do it. It’s how Easter can make a difference in your life.

All of us came today for different reasons. Some of you came because it’s the traditional thing to do. Maybe you came because a friend invited you. Some of you came because an advertisement got your attention. It doesn’t matter why you came here. You’re not here by accident. God brought you here. He brought you here so He could communicate with you; so, he could get you to sit still for a few minutes so He could say something to you.

My friend, this is what God wants to say to you today: “You matter to me. I understand everything about your life. I know you. I made you, remember? I want to have a relationship with you. I sent my Son to die for you. I want you to get to know Me.”

I don’t care what your background is. I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about a relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s what Easter is about. God knows you. He wants you to know Him. So please come with an open heart and say, “God, here I am.” 

Some of you have been close to God in the past. You’ve drifted away. What does God say to somebody who has drifted away? Isaiah 54:7 says: With deep love, I will welcome you back. Nobody will ever love you as much as Jesus Christ does. You matter to God, and He brought you here to tell you that. Jesus Christ died for you to prove how much He loves you.

We’re all at different places in our spiritual journey. Some of you aren’t sure you’re going to heaven when you die. You need to make sure. Some of you need to recommit your life to the Lord.

So, let’s pray quietly. Maybe you’re not sure you’d go to heaven if you died. Would you pray something like this in your heart: Jesus Christ, I’m not sure if I’m saved or not. I know I’m a sinner and Jesus died for me.  I’m accepting your free gift of forgiveness and salvation today. I’m putting my total trust in you, and I want to follow you. Thank you for loving me and dying for me. I’m accepted You as my Lord and Savior right now.

But maybe you’ve drifted away from Christ. God wants to say to you, “With deep love I will draw you back.” Would you say, “Lord Jesus, I’m coming home right now. I want to get it in gear again. I want to quit playing games and put first things first in my life.”

Finally, I’m sure some of you are barely hanging on; you’ve been discouraged, depressed, despondent. The pressure and stress have been building up this past week or past month, and you feel overwhelmed. God brought you here so He could say to you, “Give it all to me. Let go and let me work in your life.” Would you say, Jesus Christ, I want to give you these problems I’m facing. I want to give you my life—the good, the bad, the ugly. Fill me with your hope and your presence and power. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.