THE CHRISTIAN WALK: PASSION WEEK SERIES: GO QUICKLY AND TELL

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” He said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me.”

Matthew 28:1-10

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is Resurrection Sunday, the day when Jesus came to life, conquering sin, death, and the grave. It is a day of celebration, a day of recovery from the sadness and sorrow of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is a day that brings us a hope that can never be taken away if we choose to accept Jesus as our personal Savior.

So how did the resurrection miracle unfold and what is our role in it more than 2,000 years later?

We’ll look at this in today’s devotion, the eighth and final devotion in the Passion Week series, as we examine these scriptures from the Gospel of Luke:

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

The Sabbath after Jesus’ crucifixion had concluded at sundown on what we would consider Saturday today. Jesus had been taken down from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and, after gaining approval to prepare the body for burial, he did just that along with Nicodemus before placing Jesus in a new tomb. Scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James (also referred to as the “other Mary” to distinguish her from Jesus’ mother) were present at the tomb that Joseph owned on the day of Jesus' burial.

And then everyone went to their respective dwelling places to recognize the Sabbath. Imagine the anxious anticipation of the women as they had to wait more than a full day to get to go to the tomb. These women had spent a lot of time with Jesus during His ministry and had great adoration and love for Him, an adoration and love they wished to express through anointing His body with spices and perfumes.

So at dawn on the first day of the week (the day we know as Sunday which actually had begun at sundown on Saturday), the women went to the tomb. We know the names of some of the women (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome) but not all. Of interest, Mark’s Gospel tell us that the women were discussing how they might get the stone rolled away from the tomb to access Jesus’ body but once they arrived at the tomb, they would find that God had already taken care of it.

For the scriptures tell us that a violent earthquake struck as “an angel of the Lord came down from heaven” and rolled away the stone which he then sat on. You’ll recall that Pontius Pilate had been approached by the Pharisees and chief priests the day after Jesus had been crucified, asked to place guards at the tomb so none of Jesus’ disciples could come and take the body before claiming He had been raised from the dead. Pilate sent guards to the tomb but as we see in our passage from Matthew, they were so terrified after seeing the angel that they “became like dead men” and would therefore not be a deterrent for the women to look in the tomb to see Jesus was indeed gone.

The guards weren’t alone in being afraid because the women were also frightened but note the immediate words of the angel to put the women at ease:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.”

He then followed this by telling them that Jesus was not in the tomb:

“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.”

As mentioned prior, the women had been with Jesus during His ministry journeys and were aware that He said He would be crucified and rise again on the third day. Now His words had come to life and the angel invited the women to go into the tomb and see where Jesus had laid before giving them this command:

“Go quickly and tell His disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ Now I have told you.”

And the women wasted no time to do what the angel had told them to do. They “hurried away from the tomb” to “tell the disciples”, even though they were still “afraid” but also “filled with joy”

Suddenly, before they could reach the disciples, we find Jesus appearing to them, simply saying:

“Greetings.”

Even in the midst of their fears, imagine the absolute elation that the women had to experience at that moment. Miraculously, their risen Savior was before them, a Savior they thought they had lost, never to be seen again. But here before them was Jesus, not only able to be seen but held as well for we read where the women “clasped His feet and worshiped Him”. Who wouldn't, given the circumstances?

Now, note that Jesus didn’t let the women stay with Him long. There was still much to be done on the day He was resurrected and so He told the women to do just as the angel had told them prior:

“Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me.”

And so the women did what their Lord and Master had commanded. They went quickly to tell Jesus’ disciples that He had risen from the tomb and was very much alive. They knew it because they had seen and touched Him themselves.

So that brings us to today and our resurrection day celebration.

What do you think Jesus would say if He appeared to us this very moment?

I think His words would be the same as they were to the women. He would tell us to go quickly and tell others the good news of His resurrection, that He had been raised from the dead just as He said He would. He would want us to let everyone know that because of His resurrection, those who place their hope and trust in Him can experience their own resurrection when this earthly life ends.

Friends, this day, Easter Sunday (also referred to as Resurrection Sunday), is not a day that we are expected to rejoice in and then forget. Rather, we are to consistently and intentionally share the good news of everlasting life through Jesus with everyone we encounter during each day God blesses us with.

For there is much work to be done to carry on what Jesus started and, like Him, we shouldn’t rest until our time here on earth is finished.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

THE CHRISTIAN WALK

Sunday, April 9, 2023

PASSION WEEK SERIES: GO QUICKLY AND TELL

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