Have you ever felt fear and joy at the same time? That is what happened to two women on the first Easter morning. One was Mary Magdalene, and the other is simply identified as “the other Mary.” They arrived at the tomb, hoping to anoint the body of Jesus, but it was empty. Then an angel of the Lord told them that Christ had risen.
The Bible says, “they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word” (Matthew 28:28 NLT, emphasis added).
When Mary Magdalene saw that the stone had been rolled away, she immediately went to tell Peter and John. They ran to the tomb, and they, too, saw that it was empty. When John realized what was happening, the Bible says that “he saw and believed” (John 20:8 NLT).
Then, after everyone else had left, Mary Magdalene stayed. Her persistence paid off, because she met the risen Lord. She grabbed Jesus by the feet and worshiped him.
But Jesus told her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God'” (John 20:17 NKJV).
Check out Greg Laurie’s books and movies in the WND Superstore
We might wonder why Jesus said this to Mary Magdalene, because later, speaking to Thomas, he said, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27 NKJV).
In effect, I think Jesus was saying to Mary, “Everything has changed now. It isn’t going to be the way that it was before. In the past, you could reach out and touch me. But it’s going to be different from now on, Mary. It’s going to be better. I am going to come and live in your heart. I will be there always, and we never will be separated again.”
What was true for Mary that morning is true for all of us today.
All too often we think that we must earn God’s favor somehow. We think we must do certain things and then he will love us. But there is nothing we can do. The fact is that God loves us no matter what we do. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that.
The Bible says of Jesus, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25 NLT).
If you have put your faith in Christ, then God has forgiven your sins. The resurrection of Jesus assures us that we are accepted by God and loved by God.
The resurrection of Jesus also assures us that if we have put our faith in Christ, we will live forever in Heaven. Death died when Christ rose. And because Jesus rose, we, too, will rise.
Now, I’m not denying the reality of death. But death is not the end of the road; it’s merely a bend in the road.
When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, he conquered death. The Bible assures us, “When our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?'” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55 NLT). This is the great promise that we have as believers.
The resurrection of Jesus also assures us that we will receive new bodies. I read that two-thirds of Americans believe there will be a resurrection of the dead, but they also believe they won’t have bodies after the resurrection. However, God will resurrect the body of every person who has died in faith. And we will be radically upgraded versions of ourselves.
Job declared, “And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!” (Job 19:26 NLT). The example and model of this is Jesus. When Jesus died and rose from the dead, was he still Jesus? Of course he was.
Was there any connection between the risen Lord and the crucified Lord? Again, yes. He still bore in his body the marks of the crucifixion. He sat down with the disciples and ate. He had a body, but it was a resurrected body. And as Christians, we will have new bodies one day too.
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we also will have resurrected relationships. We will pick up where we last left off with loved ones who have preceded us to Heaven. When Jesus rose again, there was a familiarity between the disciples and him. There was a connection to the past. In the same way, we will be reconnected with our loved ones one day.
Think about all that Jesus has done. Because he died and rose again, there are so many blessings available to us. Thus, we need to tell others. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 NKJV). This is part of what we call the Great Commission.
We find the other part in Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV). As Christians, we’re commanded by Christ go to the world with that message.
Jesus wants to transform your life. He wants to give you the power over anything that has a hold on you today. He wants to give you the guaranteed assurance that you will go to Heaven. But you must invite him into your life. He can take your ending and turn it into a new beginning.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
