Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Happy Easter!




Easter Sunday is March 31st. As the celebration of Christ’s resurrection approaches, let’s take a moment to reflect upon the profound significance of the empty tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. –Matthew 28:2

The Empty Tomb was a Proclamation
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. – Matthew 28:2
The earth quaked as the divinely commissioned angel pried open the sealed tomb, rolled away the stone and took a seat on it, presenting the world with the glorious evidence of the risen Christ. The empty tomb proclaimed—Jesus has risen!

The Empty Tomb was a Testimony
The angel said to the women…He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.-Matthew 28:6
God’s angel invited the women who came to the tomb to go inside and see the place where they had seen the body of Jesus laid in the tomb (Luke 23:55). They saw the place where he had previously lay. They saw the strips of linen that had wrapped their Lord’s body, “lying by themselves”(Luke 24:12). The empty tomb testified, “it was impossible for death to keep it’s hold on Him!” (Acts 2:24).

The Empty Tomb was a Confirmation
The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again. – Luke 24:7
Jesus told his disciples he would be “killed and on the third day raised to life” (Matthew 16:21). The prophets proclaimed that God would “not let [His] Holy One see decay” (Psalm 16:10). The empty tomb was confirmation that God keeps His Word, that He has a divine plan that cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2), and because Jesus was the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20), we can trust that we, too, will have eternal life through our faith in our risen Savior.

Because of the empty tomb, we can confidently say,
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! –Job 19:25-27

Happy Easter, my sister in Christ. Celebrate. He is Risen!

Love,
Mindy


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