Dear Friends,
“Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then the women remembered his words, and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed like pure nonsense to them, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth; then he went home, wondering what had happened.” Luke 24:1-12
Jesus’ closest friends didn’t believe He rose from the dead until they saw Him with their own eyes. Even though trustworthy sources told them He has risen, women they knew personally, “these words seemed like pure nonsense to them.” Even though Jesus told them several times what will happen to Him (that He will be killed and will raise on the third day), it wasn’t something His disciples understood until it happened and they saw Him after His resurrection.
Our faith is in Him, who not only told His disciples what will happen to Him, but who was seen by them after it all happened to Him. We serve a Risen Savior. Through faith, by grace we are saved from the punishment of our sins, which is eternal separation from the One who made us. By believing that Jesus, the Son of God, took the punishment for my sins and rose from the dead, I have eternal life with Him.
On Easter we remember the empty tomb representing His victory over death. Jesus is alive. He is risen. He is risen, indeed!
Our hope and prayer is that all of our children will soon understand this truth as there’s nothing more important in life than knowing we belong to the everlasting, loving, caring, patient God. His love for us leaves us speechless, His patience with us humbles us each time. We have so much to learn from Him.
May we look for answers in Him, ask Him for all we need to better serve Him, and may we be more like Him each day as He shapes us and molds us.
We are grateful that He loves us the way we are. We don’t have to prove anything to Him, we just have to believe in Him. What an amazing Savior we serve!