Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany went to see the tomb in which Jesus was laid, but when they arrived, they encountered a supernatural occurrence. Verses 2-7, "And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.' ” I love how Jesus appeared to two faithful, humble women first. Having the man be the head over the house and leaders in ministry often puts the focus on them, and wives can feel insignificant. You should never underestimate the personal relationship you can have with God. Much can be accomplished in your private prayer and devotional time.
The soldiers who also saw the angel were terrified, and must've seen the same thing the women saw, Jesus gone! They went to report what happened to the chief priests. Verses 11-13, "Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, 'Tell them, "His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept." ’ " Again, the hardness of hearts in the priests and elders is crazy. Rather than admitting they were wrong about Jesus, they'd rather make up a ridiculous lie to cover up the truth. What is the likelihood that all of the soldiers would be so sound asleep that none of them could hear the disciples rolling the stone away, yet they knew exactly who did it? They were bribed with a large sum of money to keep this lie, which is no exchange for what they were giving up. We need to be certain that we aren't trading in an eternity with Jesus for temporary posessions, power, or money in this life. He needs to be more important than all of it. Matthew 16:26, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Jesus appears to the disciples, who might not have recognized Him as quickly as the two Marys. Remember Jesus came to them saying one word, "Rejoice", and they dropped to His feet and worshiped Him. Nonetheless, He gives them the Great Commission. In Verses 18-20, Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen." Many are now making disciples of themselves in the name of Jesus, and not exactly teaching people ALL the commands of Jesus. I fear we will soon have generations of adults who grew up with such a watered down version of Christianity taught to them, that the truth will sound like insanity to them. We cannot change our witness to become more appealing to the lost. The watered-down, made up jesus that they serve cannot save a single soul. 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Leave out the cross on your message, and you leave out the power of God.
Matthew 28:5-7, 17-20
ReplyDeleteJesus rose from the dead in the third day.
"But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." It was prophecied that Jesus would rise again. He told his desciples, yet some doubted. He also said I will destroy this temple and raise it again in three days this was also talking about his death and resurrection. If Christ died for us and didnt rise from the dead, our faith would be useless. We would be believing in a Gos who died. It would be the sender as believing in Buddha or ghandi etc. But our faith is different. We believe in a God that truly has the power to save us. He rose from the dead and is now sitting at the right hand of the father.
"And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted." The angel told both marys that Jesus had risen from the dead. When the two women saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some of his disciples doubted. They didn't have enough faith to believe that He could actually rise from the dead.
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen." This is our calling. To go and make disciples here on earth. We are called to preach the word to unbelievers and to bring them to Christ. He is also always with us. He gave us the holy spirit who resides in us and will always be with us. God is truly the only God that deserves to be worshipped. When knowing what he did for us, how can we not give Him our lives.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:19-20
ReplyDeleteAfter the Lord arose from the grave. The scribes and Pharisees, as well as those who wanted Jesus to be crucified, were worried about the word getting out that Jesus in fact was what He said He was. They had to cover their butts before the people and told them that the disciples moved Jesus' body. Instead of excepting that they were at fault they continued to cover up their guilt and dig their hole deeper.
When Jesus comes before the disciples at the end of the chapter. He gathers them together away from the people in Galilee. There He says to them to go into the world and make disciples, teaching them all that He had commanded them. Many people believe that the Lord is tarring because not everyone has heard the Gospel message but we know based on Paul's accounts that in fact they have. Making disciples from many nations in order for the word to spread, the truth to be revealed. Our God is alive. He is risen from the dead and reigns at the right hand of God the Father.
Can you image being there in the midst of Jesus when He appeared to His disciples. The worship that took place. How absolutely amazing it must have been to be an eyewitness to prophecy come true before their very eyes. To be able to bow at Jesus' feet and thank Him in person for all that He has done for each one of us. One day we will have our chance but until then we as the disciples are called to spread the Gospel to share the Good News with all the world. He has arose and we are freed from sin.