JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE THE MOMENT GOD CAME NEAR TO US.

The Sabbath finally ended. At dawn on Sunday, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary made their way to Jesus’ tomb, having prepared the proper burial spices to anoint his body. Normally, the full Jewish burial rites occurred right after death, but Jesus had died shortly before the Sabbath began and there hadn’t been time.

Finally, they could prepare the body of the one they loved—the one they had watched heal the sick, walk on the water, make the lame walk, and raise the dead to life. The one who was now gone. 

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

“Do not be afraid,” the angel told the women. “For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

The women, still terrified, stepped inside the tomb. There, they saw a vacant slab, an abandoned burial cloth, a folded shroud, and a beaming angel. But where was the body of the one they loved? 

“Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus

They had expected only a lifeless body, yet they were blessed to witness something they could not have imagined: the first signs of the Resurrection, the substance of Easter hope. No body within the grave. The stone hadn’t been rolled away to free Jesus. He was already gone. It had been rolled away so they could look in and witness the truth.

The women ran to tell the disciples, their hearts filled with fear, awe, and great joy. But along the way, Jesus appeared in front of them. They were so overwhelmed, they bowed down and grasped his feet in worship. “Don’t be afraid,” he told them. “Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.” What incredible words, what an incredible truth. Those who believed in Jesus, he now called his brothers and sisters, his family that could now spend eternity with him. In giving his life, he bridged our separation from God, caused by sin. 

And now, Jesus had something very important left for believers to do. 

Once the women convinced the disciples that they really had seen an empty tomb and the risen Lord, the eleven left for Galilee, for the mountain where Jesus told them to go. When they saw him there, they worshiped him. Finally they saw Jesus for who He really is.

And it was there that Jesus gave them the Great Commission. “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

Before Jesus left the earth, he gave the disciples their marching orders, and his command has not changed for us. Spread the Good News. Hope is alive and he will be with you always. He is Risen!