Easter Sunday: The King IS ALIVE!

Read Matthew 28:1-10

Everywhere you turn, in these days especially, we are inundated with bad news. Day after day after day.  So much so that people regularly admit to me that they’ve deleted their social media apps and stopped watching and listening to the news. And by “admit,” I don’t mean like a confession.  It’s more like a celebration.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is good news! It can’t be spun. And It’s not fake. It’s a historical fact with eternal significance. And like the account of the crucifixion, for us longstanding believers and vocational ministers of the gospel, it’s familiar. Of course, that’s good. But you know what they say about familiarity.

So let’s try to refresh it in our hearts.

Of course, there are all the important (and I mean that) theologically significant truths birthed out of the resurrection. It’s an encouraging study.  You should do it sometime. But let’s look at it from a slightly different perspective. A woman’s… I mean the women who went to the tomb.

What must it have been like for this group of women to see what they saw. An earthquake. An angel. An empty tomb. Burial cloths folded neatly and left behind. And then there’s the resurrected Jesus. Unbelievable! What a day!  And it’s not even breakfast yet!

Now, look back at our passage, and make a list of every command the women are given. To help, here are some verses to focus on. Keep in mind, some of the verses might have more than one command.

Verse 5:

Verse 6:

Verse 7:

Verse 10:

Your Turn

We will infuse good news and hope into Wayne County through the proclamation of the resurrection and the transformed living empowered by it.

See: The women were invited to see the empty tomb. The empty tomb of Jesus Christ is the concrete evidence of our faith. With confidence, we know we are forgiven, we have been released from our bondage to sin, we have been released to new life, and we have hope.

Go and Tell: These women were sent to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. To whom is Jesus sending you to share the good news? Look at your dinner list from our Maundy Thursday reflection. Write next to each name their felt needs and how the hope of Jesus will satisfy them.

Don’t be Afraid: What fears hold you back from going and telling others the good news of Jesus? List them – one by one. Release them to the Lord. Then begin by telling your story to someone who needs Jesus.

*If you like to download a hard copy of these devotionals click here to download.