When the Sabbath was over, Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses, bought spices, that they might come
and anoint Jesus. The next morning, they came to the tomb at sunrise. They said
to each other, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”
because it was very big.
There was a great earthquake as
an angel of the Lord descended from the heavens, and rolled away the stone from
the door, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing
white as snow. For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.
Entering into the tomb, the
women were amazed to see a young man dressed in a white robe, sitting on the
right side. He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene,
who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. See the
place where they laid him! Go quickly and tell his disciples and Peter. He goes
before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.”
They departed quickly from the
tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.
Mary ran to Simon Peter and John,
saying to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t
know where they have laid him!”
Peter and John ran together to the
tomb. John outran Peter, and came to the tomb first. Stooping and looking in,
he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he didn’t enter. Then Peter came and
entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the cloth that
had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place
by itself. Then John also entered; he saw and believed, though as yet they
didn’t know the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. So the disciples
went away again to their homes.
Reflection
The grief of Friday and
Saturday turned into the confusion of Sunday. The women went early to anoint
the body, wondering who would roll back the stone. The tomb was empty except
for discarded grave clothes. One disciple saw and believed; the others didn’t
know what to think. If you had been there, what would you have thought?
Prayer: Thank you for
evidence of the resurrection, Lord, and for faith that comes before the
evidence is all in.
I have often wondered whether I would have been one of the many followers, had I lived in that time period. There was a time in my life when I was very open and willing to join in new worship movements. However, as I have gotten older, it has appeared to be wise to hold back and investigate, before plunging into a new phase of my walk with Christ. There are too many who distort the truth, leaving us empty and devoid of His peace. So, would I have embraced Christ and seen Him to be the Lord of Lords? Most certainly, I hope and trust I would have seen the "light" and given Him my whole life.
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