And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen … And they remembered His words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. … Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

—Luke 24:1-12

Peter was astonished at the sight of the empty tomb. We are told that he went home overcome with awe, that he pondered the wonder of what had happened.

In the agonizing hours leading up to Christ’s brutal crucifixion, Peter had gravely sinned as he denied ever knowing Jesus. He witnessed the horror of His last breath and experienced absolute emptiness and despair while Jesus lay dead.

Then Peter found himself staring at the miracle of the empty tomb. Unlike so many throughout the years since, Peter did not arrogantly dismiss the incomprehensible — instead, he marveled in amazement over what he saw.

God doesn’t bring us to the actual physical empty tomb, as he did with Peter. But in spite of our own grave sins, God unceasingly attempts to capture our wonder and amazement in a thousand different ways every day so that we might be in awe of Him too.

What makes you wonder? Is there anything that leaves you marveling?

How about how tulips suddenly begin to sprout from the barren ground after a bitter winter?

Or how a tiny hummingbird navigates thousands of miles across vast oceans and finds the exact spot it left many months earlier?

Does your mind even begin to comprehend the sight of billions of sparkling stars that blanket the sky on a moonless night? Or that the lifeless moon orbits the Earth like clockwork? Or that time is something that can be measured and yet is infinite? And where did time come from anyway?

Wonder is God’s way of giving us hope, of filling us with the joyous humility that tells us there is a power greater, and more mysterious, and more loving than we can fathom.

Despite the indisputable reality that a miraculous creation encompasses us even in the busiest city or darkest night, we have this propensity to dismiss it as routine. Some even have such prideful arrogance that they explain away the entirety of creation in a single word like “evolution.”

Allow yourself to marvel at nature, to think about the miracles that surround you. For when we permit ourselves to be filled with wonder, that is when we open our hearts to God.

Romans 1:20 most clearly explains this truth: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”

On that beautiful resurrection morning, Peter allowed himself to ponder the wonder of what he could not comprehend. And in so doing, he opened his heart to welcome the Risen Christ.

This Easter, permit yourself to marvel over God’s awesome display of His eternal power, and your heart will be ready to welcome the Resurrected Savior too.

Rebecca Hagelin can be reached at [email protected].