Jesus was dead.
Stunned disciples sat in grief while the women believers were in tears of despair. Jesus was dead! They had watched and seen Him buried. He was as dead as any mortal man at death.
Was He then not the Christ after all? Had they all been mistaken? Was Jesus not the long-awaited Messiah as they had believed?
There was darkness of soul and spirit magnified to a hitherto unknown depth of anguish. Believers have hidden away from the Jews for fear association would render them the next victims.
The women decide to go to the tomb to see if they could find someone to roll the stone away and anoint the body of Jesus before more decay sets in. Such is the setting on the morning of Resurrection Sunday.
The Empty Tomb
20 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the [a]handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not [b]know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Not finding the body of Jesus to anoint, Mary runs to Simon Peter and the disciple John to tell them of the missing body of Christ. Confusion is added to sadness, fear, and sorrow. Where is the body of their Lord?
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
This passage has always moved me too deeply to adequately express.
Mary stands outside the tomb and emotions overwhelm her.
Jesus is dead and now the body is missing and she is beyond emotional exhaustion and loss.
Angels ask her whom she is seeking.
Mary has no idea what to think.
She is beyond understanding why angelic beings are there and speaking to her.
She turns away. Tears no doubt are blinding her eyes.
The Word that Changed the World
Someone outside the tomb asks her why she is crying and whom she seeks.
She answers the man whom she believes to be the gardener that she seeks to discover where the body has been laid.
The man calls her,”MARY!”
The world changes with that one word.
He is alive and she knows it!
He is alive and we know it !
The world and all eternity is forever and forever changed in that one word!.
HE HAS RISEN !
Jesus is and was the Christ and He has risen from the dead!
God is stronger than the grave and in Christ we as believers will have eternal, everlasting life in the Presence of God Almighty!
Christ has experienced RESURRECTION and nothing, nothing, nothing will ever be the same again!!
——-
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
I ALSO SEND YOU
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
That You May Believe
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20
Yes! Thanks be to God!
These things are written that we might believe and have life in His Name.
RESURRECTION SUNDAY IS FOR YOU
May you believe and receive Christ into your life and heart this Resurrection Sunday!
May you too be forever changed and forever know the joy of Jesus in your life!
Easter Links:
Palm Sunday; Monday, Jesus Knew; Tuesday, What Authority; Wednesday, Jesus Betrayed; Thursday Early, This Night; Thursday Late, He Prays Before The Arrest; Friday, Seven Sayings From The Cross; Saturday, Silent Saturday; Sunday, Resurrection Sunday