In his Easter 2026 Message, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray, reflects on a truism that he heard at a recent funeral he attended. The expression caught his attention, as the minister had made the point that in this world “no one gets out of it alive.”
Dr Murray goes on to tell the story of a sceptical writer who set out to disprove the resurrection of Jesus. In ‘Who moved the stone?’ Frank Morrison ended up writing the book that he hadn’t intended to write – that it happened!
“In a world where no one gets out of alive, there is only one individual who has bucked the trend, and who consequently has the qualification to offer life. That man is the Lord Jesus Christ and those who know him as their own personal Saviour have a hope that sustains them in this life and in death,” Dr Murray writes in his Easter Message.
Full text of the Moderator’s 2026 Easter Message
Recently I was attending a funeral and during the course of it the minister said about this world “no one gets out of it alive” – and many have made a similar observation. It made me think.
It is also true, where statistics are concerned, that one out of one of us will die – an unfortunate rate of 100%. This world is a one-way street and what we need is someone to buck the trend and give us hope of life after death, or else we are forever doomed. (Spoiler alert – only one person has bucked that trend!)
Nearly a century ago, when Frank Morrison wrote the book ‘Who moved the stone?’ it was not the book he intended to write. Morrison was an English freelance writer who was sceptical about the resurrection of Jesus and so he set out to write a book about what really happened.
He examined the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, discovering that they had a ring of historical accuracy and truth. Morrison considered the emptiness of the tomb when the guards posted on sentry duty would surely have heard a two-ton stone being moved.
He considered the empty graveclothes, which no graverobber would have removed and then just left behind. Then there was the change in the disciples, secluded and frightened in that upper room, who went from broken men to courageous heralds of Jesus raised from the dead. How to account for these things?
Morrison considered all of this and more. Eventually, whenever he published his book, the purpose of it was the exact opposite of what he had originally intended. The original project was to disprove the resurrection, but the book when it was published, argued the case for Jesus having been raised from the dead. In other words, Morrison had become a believer and discovered that eternal life is the gift of God through trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose again fully alive on the third day.
In a world where no one gets out of alive, there is only one individual who has bucked the trend, and who consequently has the qualification to offer life. That man is the Lord Jesus Christ and those who know him as their own personal Saviour have a hope that sustains them in this life and in death.
When the angels moved the stone, it was not to let the Lord out, but to let us look in and see the empty tomb where Jesus had lain. The challenge is to seek and to find in him the forgiveness and eternal life that he alone can give to whoever comes to him.
Jesus himself tells us, “‘I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! (Revelation 1:18). It is my prayer this Easter that those who know this truth discover more of him, and those who are yet to discover the love and forgiveness that Christ has for them, will find and walk in it.
Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray
Moderator
Presbyterian Church in Ireland