Before the sun had risen (but after the Son had risen), a dispatch of faithful women trekked to the sealed tomb of their Lord Jesus. Their sorrow quickly turned to alarm when they arrived at an empty grave.
In the gray of early dawn and the darkness of their grief, their steps of devotion were met by a divine reversal. There had been an earthquake, the stone was gone, and the body had disappeared.
The apostle John focuses in on the experience on one of the witnesses, Mary Magdalene:
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the
tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been,
one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’
‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’
At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ (John 20:11-15a)
That day—that unmitigated best-in-all-of-history day—this Mary was given heaven’s
good news of God’s Son (John 20:17).
The result: Mary became the first to proclaim the Risen Lord. She simply couldn’t contain what she knew of her Lord.
And you?
“I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18)
While she actually saw Jesus, haven’t you been shown enough to believe He lives? How I pray you have!
But if you woke this morning, as those women did that first Easter, in disbelief of a resurrected Jesus, then venture out to seek Him. Don’t linger in darkness and sorrow. Rather, run to where His people are gathered to find all the answer your heart needs.
Run, with great haste, to your first Easter—and do not delay. . . . .
Join me over here @ Renew.org for the rest of this post on how the resurrection can power your discipleship...