Jesus Is Alive!

Scripture: Luke 24:1-12

1 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.” 8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. 11 But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. 12 However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12 NLT)

Mary Magdalene and several other women went very early to visit the tomb. These were the women who were watching as Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus’ body the day of the crucifixion. Angels arrived at the tomb before the women did, and very considerately rolled aside the stone for them! I believe the angels rolled the stone away not so Jesus could get out, but so his followers could see he had risen!

The angels gave them the best news ever: Jesus is Alive!  Death is not the end. All the bad things that can happen before death are not the end. And because Jesus is risen, we have the assurance of eternity!

Our role now is just the same as their role was then:

• Come and see! Step forward, seek, knock, and press into the life of faith. Experience the assurance that comes as you move forward in faith.
• Go and tell! Our message is to tell what we’ve seen and experienced. We don’t have to be great theologians and we don’t have to have all the answers! Tell what you know!

Prayer:

Father, You did it! You brought Jesus alive from the tomb and defeated the last great enemy! Death will never be the same after Jesus’ resurrection and we know that there’s life on the other side. Help us to hold that reality firmly and let it shape our thinking about our own lives and the lives of those we love. I believe in life everlasting! Amen!