During my hermitage stay last month, I spent many hours walking the winding trails of the retreat property. In one open field stood a solitary cross. I paused there several times, noticing the stones gathered at its base and reflecting on all who had stood in that same place before me—and those who would one day stand there after me.
On my final visit, I lingered longer, allowing myself to rest in a deeper sense of gratitude. I thanked Jesus for dying for me and for conquering death on my behalf. Though I cannot begin to comprehend the suffering He endured on the cross or His descent into hell before the resurrection, I am profoundly grateful that both the cross and the tomb now stand empty.
Our Good Shepherd came down from the cross, came out of the tomb, so that we can live.
I mean no disrespect to those who display crosses depicting Jesus on them. These are powerful reminders of the suffering He willingly endured for us. And yet, I find myself drawn to the empty cross—not to diminish His sacrifice, but to celebrate that He no longer suffers.
Seeing Jesus on the cross can sometimes leave me thinking of Him as distant, a figure of the past I read about in Scripture, a historical person forever fixed in time like a statue in a town square. But Jesus is not confined to the past. He is present here and now—in this moment, in every place, for all time.
An empty cross proclaims that Jesus is alive and accessible to us today.
On Easter Sunday, shouts of “He is Risen!” are heard around the world. This is a Christian’s way of rejoicing over the empty tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Luke 24:3-6
The tomb was empty—bringing deep sorrow to Mary, though only for a moment. When the risen Jesus appeared to her outside the tomb, her grief was transformed into indescribable joy. Because the tomb was empty, we can be confident in the resurrection and in the eternal life He promised us through Himself.
An empty tomb declares that Jesus conquered death and opened the door to eternal life for us.
Jesus tells us in John 10:10, “I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full.”
Christ came. Christ died. Christ rose.
Empty Cross + Empty Tomb = A Life to the Full
When I look back over my life, I can now see that the seasons when I felt the deepest sense of “emptiness” were closely tied to the state of my relationship with God at the time. In my early twenties, I did not truly know Jesus. I believed in God, but I had not yet formed a personal relationship with Him, nor was I living with an active, living faith.
As I struggled to find my identity in college and grieved the loss of a beloved grandmother, I experienced a profound emptiness—one woven together with grief, self-doubt, and loneliness.
Looking back, I can recognize how God was quietly present even then, providing for me through the people He placed in my life and gently leading me toward a new path.
As my faith began to grow—through intentionally developing a relationship with Jesus, opening my heart to the work of the Spirit, and engaging with God’s Word—I started to understand what it truly means to have life “to the full.”
Since then, that emptiness has resurfaced at times when I have neglected my relationship with God and allowed myself to be shaped by the world instead. Whenever I try to fill a heavenly longing with earthly things, I find that they never truly satisfy—they only distract me from the fullness of life God offers.
Distracting myself from feeling empty is not the same as being filled.
I love these words of prayer and encouragement Paul sent to the people of Ephesus:
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
Empty Cross + Empty Tomb = All the fullness of God
On this Good Friday, I praise Jesus.
I give thanks to the empty cross.
I rejoice over the empty tomb.
They are both empty so I can have life to the full.
Here’s a throwback song from 2008 by Chris Sligh, the 10th place singer on American Idol 2006). Listen on YouTube here: Empty Me by Chris Sligh )
Empty Me I’ve had just enough of the spotlight when it burns bright To see how it gets in the blood And I’ve tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride And found a little is not quite enough I know how I can stray And how fast my heart could change
Empty me of the selfishness inside Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride And any foolish thing my heart holds to Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You
