Sunday, April 20, 2014
Romans 4:25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
EASTER SUNDAY:
DRAMATIC PROOF THAT THE WORLD'S STANDING WITH GOD HAS BEEN CHANGED
While it was still dark, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved (John), and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" Just after sunrise, the women took the spices they had prepared and went on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Do not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Come and see the place where they laid him. Then go quickly and tell his disciples and Peter, 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.' There you will see him, just as he told you. Now I have told you." Then they remember his words. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Meanwhile, Peter and John started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally John, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead). Then the disciples went back to their homes, wondering what had happened.
Soon after, Mary returned and 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. "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
While the other women were on their way to tell the disciples about the angels' message, Jesus suddenly met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
When they came back from the tomb, Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. The women all told these things to the Eleven and to all the others who had followed him and who were mourning and weeping. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
-- Selected and Adapted from Orville Daniel's "A Harmony of the Gospels" (NIV84)
