It was very early in the morning on the first day of the week.
The ladies had brought spices to anoint the body of the LORD Jesus Christ, and though it was a labor of love it was a terrible time. The One they had loved and followed had been falsely accused, conspired against, wrongly convicted, and then horribly executed. It doesn’t get much worse than that! They were heartbroken. Then, they didn’t know how or who would roll away the heavy stone that had been placed on the opening of the borrowed sepulchre, so you can just imagine how shocked they were to find the stone had already been rolled away. Now who opens up a grave? But the tomb was opened, so naturally the ladies entered in to begin the anointing of the dead body, but to their amazement, the first thing they saw was a “young man” (angels always appear as male) sitting in there. And the angel began to talk to them. He said, “…Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.” Matthew 28:5-7 (KJV).
Aside from the abrupt change of plans for the day, can you even imagine the shock, followed by the extreme joy? Mary Magdalene goes to tell the disciples, Peter and John soon arrive to check out the impossible, and then all but Mary Magdalene disburse. She is at the tomb weeping when Jesus appears to her saying “Woman, why weepest thou? Yikes!!
There were tears aplenty and all kinds of sorrow in the days leading up to and following the crucifixion, but now, you needn’t weep, Jesus is risen! You can save the spices for another day, forget about the eulogies, and just be happy of happies! The Tomb is empty, and Jesus is risen. Why seek ye the living among the dead?
Of course there are challenges to come. Following Jesus, spreading the Gospel, being obedient to the Great Commission, and much, much more are a part of the package of the Risen Christ. But right now, in this very moment, the immediate and overriding emotion is pure joy unrestricted! Jesus is alive!
As I am writing, this is Friday morning (also pretty early in the morning) and in two days from now, pretty much to the minute, we will (LORD willing) be “outside on the tarmac” singing, praising, testifying, and celebrating the Empty Tomb, our Risen Saviour, and the wonderful salvation we have as a result.
Talk about joy! It’s going to be a great day!
Love to all,
Pastor
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