Of Jesus
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Of Jesus | |
On the morning of the third day, which was Sunday, several women came to finish the anointing of the body of Jesus for burial. As they, approached the entrance to the tomb, they asked among themselves who should roll away the heavy stone. But when they came there, the stone was already rolled away, and the soldiers lay asleep.
Stepping inside to find the body of Jesus the women covered
their eyes, for the tomb was filled with bright light. A flaming
spot of brightness hung near the spot where the
body of Jesus had lain. Two angels were there, one standing at
the head of the place where He had lain and one sitting at the
foot.
"Do not be afraid. You have come to find Jesus of Nazareth,
Who was crucified. Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is risen. He is not here."
The light faded, and there was the empty tomb. Jesus was not there.
Mary had remained outside the tomb and was weeping softly. Then a voice was heard which said:
"Woman, why do you cry?"
"Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where
they have laid Him," she answered." She then turned
and saw Jesus standing before her. At first she did not recognize
Him. She thought He was the gardner.
"Tell me where you have laid Him and I will take Him away."
"Mary," He said softly. She turned and looked at the
figure standing before her again. That voice. Could it be??? Yes,
it was He.
She knelt to the ground and cried happily, "Master."
Going away, almost not daring to believe the glad words they had heard, the women ran to tell the Disciples the happy news.
Then as the women hurried along that morning, Jesus met them,
greeting them.
"Fear not," Jesus said to them softly, "but go and tell all my followers to go into Galilee and they shall see me there."
What a glorious morning. These women saw, not only Gabriel, the messenger Angel Of The Lord, they also saw the risen Savior. What a day that must have been for them.
However, when they reached out to touch Him, He told them they could not because He had not yet ascended to the Father. "Go and tell My brethren,' He told them, meaning His Disciples.
When the Disciples were told, they could not believe. Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves, and they found that Jesus was not there. Not until Jesus appeared to them and supped with them, though even then at first they did not know Him, did the Disciples believe that He really had risen from the dead as had been foretold of Him.
Jesus showed them the nail scars in His hands and feet where He had been nailed to the cruel cross. Then He spoke to them, explaining:
"Thus it is written, that Christ should suffer and die
on the cross, and rise from death on the third day, in order that
repentance and remission of sins might be preached in His name
throughout the world, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And you are the witness of these things that came to pass. And
behold, I send the promise of my Father to you, as my Father sent
me. Then He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy
Spirit. Whatever man's sins you forgive, those are forgiven in
Heaven and whatsoever man's sins ye retain, they shall be retained.
Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every living creature.
He who believes and is baptized, shall be saved. But he that does
not believe, shall be condemned."
But Thomas, one of the twelve, was not present at that meeting
and later, when
Jesus appeared to him, he could not believe that it was truly
Jesus until Jesus showed him the scars from the nails and allowed
him to touch the wounds. That is where the expression "Doubting
Thomas" derived from.
For many days, Jesus remained on earth, and many saw Him, and believed in Him, and knew that He had risen from the dead.
Then, when the time had come, Jesus spoke His last words to His Disciples. As His voice came to their ears, and they looked at Him, His body grew into a mist that glowed with light, and they seemed to see the light rise into the sky and enter into Heaven, as they heard the blessed words:
"I am the Resurrection and the Life. Lo, I am with you always..even unto the end of the world."
