Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Luke 17-18
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 28:9-10
Jesus (greeting the women): Rejoice.
The women fell down before Him, kissing His feet and worshiping Him.
Jesus: Don’t be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. Tell them I will meet them there.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
You’ve probably seen the popular TV show, actors portray different scenes in public and hidden cameras watch unsuspecting bystanders to see what happens as the action plays out before them. You know the punch line – “What would you do?” Sometimes the actions are pretty bizarre and we would like to think we know how we would react when put in those situations. But do we?
Put yourself in the cemetery on that first Easter morning. You go to the tomb to finish preparing the body of the man you thought would lead your country to freedom. You listened to His words and just knew He was must be the Messiah, but then He was arrested and killed like a common criminal. All your dreams are dashed. But you still want to carry out this last act of respect.
The guards are laying around the tomb either unconscious or so terrified they just can’t move. The stone is rolled away from the entrance. You see an angel sitting on top of the stone. The tomb is empty. Then the angel talks to you and tells you not to be afraid. What would you do? I’d probably be scared out of my gord no matter what the angel said. He just took on a whole Roman squad by himself and rolled away a stone too massive to for any man to move alone. And did it all without getting a speck of dirt on him.
I bet I’d fall on my face in fear. But then Jesus appears, but His skin is no longer ripped to sheds by the thirty-nine lashes He took. His brow shows no sign of the crown of thorns that pierced it. The bruises are gone. The blood that covered His body when you laid Him in the tomb is gone. The almost unrecognizable figure of a man that went into the tomb three days ago is not the same figure that stands before you now.
No, this is the same Jesus you walked with and talked with every day. This is the One who sat with you and explained the scriptures so perfectly. This is the man who loved everyone and taught you to love even your enemies. This is the man you thought you’d never see again until the final resurrection. What would you do?
I would probably faint dead away. I’d probably just fall on my face and pass out cold from the instant fear that ran through my whole body. That’s what I’d probably do. I’ve seen some really strange things in my life and been in some pretty scary situations, but to see Jesus resurrected on that first Easter mornining? Not sure I’d be standing up.
But Jesus says, “Rejoice!” “Tell my brothers to go and meet me in Galilee.”
Wow! I don’t think John Quiñones could put anything like that together. But if he did, I wonder what kind of response He would get? I’m afraid today he wouldn’t get much of one. People would assume it’s some sort of Hollywood special affects or slight of hand. Folks would look for those hidden cameras thinking that since this couldn’t be real, there must be some wizard behind the curtain and start looking for him. I’m not sure with all the SciFi and fantasy worlds we create for ourselves as entertainment, many would even see this scene as the incredible, historic, supernatural, spiritually awakening invitation for all mankind it really was.
But it happened. Jesus spent enough time in the grave to assure everyone in Jerusalem He was really dead. The Roman soldiers who crucified Him testified to it and they knew their job. They had no doubt about His condition when they took His lifeless corpse from that cross. When Joseph of Arimethea put Jesus in his tomb, no one doubted He was dead. No pulse. No heartbeat. No breath. Bled out. Dead. And even if He was alive, He certainly couldn’t have move that stone and walked around three days later after the physical ordeal He went through. Even with our modern medicine, He would spend months, maybe a year or more in the hospital recovering from His wounds. Walking around talking in three days? Healed? No way. Alive? Impossible.
Jesus told the women who came to finish their burial ritual to rejoice. And they did. They fell at His feet and kissed His feet and worshiped Him. Any question they had about His being the Son of God disappeared in that encounter. He was God incarnate.
Then Jesus gave them a job to do. Go tell My brothers I’m alive and I want to meet them. You know He gives us the same message to tell others when we recognize the incarnate, resurrected God of the universe in Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed One. When we finally figure out who He is and let Him be Lord of our life, He tells us to rejoice. Then He tells us to go and tell His brothers He wants to meet them.
Have you told anyone lately that Jesus wants to meet them? He has risen. He is alive. The message is clear. So what will you do?
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