Tell Others About Easter

I praise God that He is risen. He is risen indeed. For our friends in Pakistan we say, "Wo jee utha. Wo jee utha, beshuk." It is so good to have 20/20 hindsight. Friday we left Jesus in the tomb. But death could not hold Him. He conquered death and gave us the hope of the Resurrection and eternal life. We left here very solemnly Friday night and no one said much of anything. Many times, people just don't know what to say at the funeral of someone they knew and loved.

I read a story about a pastor and his wife who hadn't been at their Church very long when one of their charter members passed away. It was going to be a huge funeral because the deceased was one of the more influential ladies in the church. As any good mom would do, the pastor's wife began prepping their little boy as to what to say and do. She told him about the receiving line and how, when it was their turn to speak to the family, he should say, "I am sorry for your loss." In a mixture of confusion and frustration, he immediately responded with, "Why should I be sorry? I didn't kill her."

What makes that story even funnier is that it is a true story. The pastor said that he got a good laugh out of his son's innocent response, but death is no laughing matter. It doesn't differentiate between the young or the old. No one escapes earth's deathly grip. However, the good news for believers, those that have asked Jesus to be their Savior, the good news is that it's not the last word. Jesus Christ conquered death, and through faith in Him, we have eternal life. Praise God! Prayer.

John 20:1-2 – “On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

Friday left us with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes. Saturday was a day of silence. But today is the first day of the week. It was on this day that Mary Magdalene got up very early and went to the tomb while it was still dark. It was there she found the stone had been removed. So, she runs back and tells Peter and John that someone had taken Jesus out of the tomb. You know the story.

We're not sure exactly when Mary Magdalene first encountered Jesus, but both Mark and Luke tell us in their gospel writings that she was possessed by seven demons that Jesus cast out of her. It was pretty clear that this early encounter with Jesus changed her life. From that experience, she became a follower of Jesus, often traveling with Him and the disciples in their ministry.

Mary had a lot to be thankful for, so it's no wonder that she felt the need to get to the tomb early on that Sunday morning. She felt obligated. But even more than that, she loved Jesus as her Savior. When the Sabbath was over and before the sun had even risen, she made her way to the tomb. Other women accompanied Mary to the tomb as noted in Mark's writings, but the gospel writer John focused on Mary Magdalene's encounter with Jesus. And it was that encounter that began with a discovery that something was out of place. The stone had been rolled away. Let's see if we can picture that moment in our minds.

*****

When I was in college, I was fortunate to have as my roommate my cousin, Fred. (Hi, Fred, if you’re watching.) So, there were never any problems with the way the room was arranged or anything like that. But we had a friend who told us that his roommate was extremely particular about the way that he kept his room.

He didn't like anyone going into his room or touching any of his things. If he left for the weekend, he would vacuum the carpet in such a way that he could tell if anyone had walked on it. He even placed a Hot Wheels car on his desk, and if anyone opened the drawer, the car would move, and he would know someone had been in his desk. He always knew when something was out of place.

*****

Mary Magdalene didn't need a toy car at the tomb to know something was out of place. The stone had been moved. John didn't give us all the details between this discovery and Mary's report back to the disciples, but it's clear that she wasn't thinking about the resurrection. Even though Jesus had told the disciples several times that He would be killed and then rise from the dead, those words seemed to have escaped them. Mary's first thought was that someone had taken the body of Jesus. For her, this was the most realistic understanding of the situation.