Read Mark 16:1-8
What would have been your reaction when finding the empty tomb? Shock. Fear. It’s hard to put ourselves there truly because we know how the story plays out. We know the empty tomb is exactly what we should have expected. Jesus told us after all. But where was Jesus now?
I’m not going to dive into the “why we have different endings” discussion. Neither of the added endings say anything contrary or surprising in light of what we know about Jesus’ life on earth, both before and after his death. Hallelujah, Jesus is alive!
We can only imagine what the women were feeling–rattled, to say the least. While the text makes it sound like they arrived at the tomb, very curious why the stone was rolled away. They proceeded to march bravely right inside the tomb. There, they encountered something even more unexpected, a strange man, an angel.
You can almost hear the immediate hush come over the space inside the tomb. Their fear was palpable. Could they even comprehend what the angel was telling them? “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” Wait! What does that even mean? They had seen Lazarus resurrected, but Jesus was alive to ask for that miracle. They didn’t realize Jesus’ power was that great. They underestimated God.
Do you ever do that–underestimate God? Sometimes we don’t do it intentionally. Any time I don’t seek God’s will or a filling of his spirit for a given task, I fail miserably. When I invite God into my decisions and my dilemmas, the solutions become clear so much sooner. This is where we can see our own angels, rescuing us from our messes.
Have you ever seen an angel? If I have, I haven’t recognized it. Although plenty of people have done very “angelic” type things to help me over the years. I believe God will use many messengers in this world to keep his story alive. We can even be recruited. God loves to shine through our lives.
Let’s pray. Thank you for conquering death and the grave for me. You made a way for me to spend eternity with you. I trust you with my life and look forward to spending time with you each day. Forgive me for those times when I forget to include you. Hallelujah, Jesus is alive! Amen!
