22nd April 2025

Yogi Berra, the famous baseball legend, said a lot of things that made people scratch their heads and sometimes laugh. In 1973, when his team was way behind, he came up with the phrase, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over.’ His team rallied to win the division title and though many have forgotten that, his words live on as a statement of hope and optimism. 

When Jesus was crucified, his mother, disciples and followers thought it was all over. They’d had such high hopes for the one they had come to believe was the Messiah, the one who would save them and usher in a new and wonderful kingdom. But their hopes were dashed when he was tried, convicted and executed on the cross. One of the thieves who was crucified with him asked if he were the Messiah, why didn’t he save himself and them? He was but he didn’t. If someone had quoted Yogi Berra at that fateful moment, he would have been met with a certain amount of scorn. It was over.

But it wasn’t over, was it? It was an end, but it wasn’t the end. It was finished (John 19:30) but it was just beginning. Hours later, Jesus got up, wrapped his clothes into a neat pile, and walked out of the tomb. He stepped out of eternity to become one of us and then he stepped out of a tomb to show that it wasn’t over then, and it isn’t over now. 

Because he conquered the grave, death doesn’t mean it’s over for us either. In him, we will also step out from our temporary tombs to live in the light of his glory forever. 

He is risen! 

First published on 26 March 2024, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com a personal blog which is not sponsored by Grace Communion International.

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