Matthew 28:1-7 New American Standard Bible 1995
Jesus Is Risen!
28 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “[a]Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Happy Easter!
The morning has indeed come – exactly as it has since the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth and gave his everlasting order unto the earth.
Early on that first Easter morning, just before the sunrise, some of the same women who had stood weeping at the cross quietly made their way through the narrow streets of Jerusalem to the garden where their Jesus had been buried.
Their eyes were heavy with tears.
Their whole world had come to an abrupt halt.
Their dreams had been shattered.
The one on whom they had placed their hope was dead.
They had seen it with their own eyes.
They had witnessed his crucifixion.
The jeers of the people who had told Jesus to come off the cross and save himself were still ringing in their ears.
Jesus’ friends had not understood his cry: “It is finished!”
All they knew was that their beloved Master and Teacher was dead.
The women were going now to embalm the body of their Lord.
They wondered how they would remove the large stone at the tomb’s entrance.
But as they got ever closer to the grave, one miracle followed another.
They found the stone rolled away and an angel sitting on top of it.
Why was the stone rolled away?
As scholars have noted, it was not to let Jesus out, but to show everyone else that he was no longer inside.
He has risen!
And that makes all the difference in the world.
In a world with so many cemeteries, where death always seems to have the last word and laugh, Jesus has conquered death. Knowing that changes everything.
Celebrate, We Will!
John 3:26-30 New American Standard Bible 1995
26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves [a]are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the [b]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
“He must increase, but I must decrease!”
As we have just walked through the Easter season, looking at Jesus and His life, I find myself so often wondering what it would have been like for me to be there watching his life happen, watching this incredible drama unfold before my eyes.
We read through the length and breadth of all of Scripture and we glimpse into the amazing things about Jesus’ life and all that happened to those around him.
I get chills when I think about watching his display of love, grace, truth sharing, his measured obedience to whatever his Heavenly Father directed him to do.
So, each Easter season, I find myself in a posture of awe and wonder.
The hope-filled joy of knowing who holds the pen to the pages of my life and who walks alongside me through all my seasons. This my friends, is good news.
If you are like me, I simply love thinking of Jesus’s whole life, not just his years of ministry.
I can hardly imagine watching Jesus take his first steps as a wobbly toddler or watching him walk up to be baptized by John the Baptist or to see him feed the 5,000, or to have the honor of hearing Him teach the Sermon on the Mount.
All of these amazing things we hear and picture but wow, to actually see them in the flesh sounds like such a gift, a gift that I’d give just about anything to see.
And while that would be an amazing gift, I am ever so reminded that we have the greatest gift of living on this side of the cross.
This side of the cross allows his Spirit to live inside you and me, this side of the cross is where death has no more sting.
The gift of living on this side of the cross is a gift that we cannot overlook.
We have the Word of God in written form that at anytime we are able to dig into it to learn more about who our Creator is, what his son’s life was really like, and exactly why we needed a Savior to take our place.
It’s sitting in that awe and wonder that I am reminded of one of my favorite verses, one that has changed my life forever:
John 3:30. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
These are seven life-changing, powerful, needed words spoken by John the Baptist.
These seven words continue to be a reminder to me of the gift Jesus is to all of us daily.
Because of Jesus and His life we are able to live our lives in the posture of decrease so that our lives increase in Him.
How amazing is that?
Our Heavenly Father sent His perfect, sinless son Jesus to come and take on the penalty of all we would ever do just so we would have the opportunity to be made right with Him and live eternally together.
This leaves me speechless!
Jesus had to come and take on all you and I would ever do so we could be eternally right with God forever.
He had to.
What a powerful, all-consuming love story this is and it’s freely offered to you and me and, without exception, the rest of humanity – for all the ages to come.
We get the choice to accept Christ and all His life was, is, and is to come.
Because, Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection is what tethers us all to eternity.
Without one part of it, there would be no opportunity to have the gift of grace and mercy.
There is no defeated grave without the cross.
The sheer magnitude of John 3:30 carries so much importance of who Jesus is and what His life means to us.
Everything He calls us to is so that our lives would be ones that soak up all of the goodness of God and all that He has for us, this means we have to decrease.
His life calls us to not be afraid to pick up our cross and follow Him.
It calls us to love Him more than anyone or anything and walk to always hand in hand with His spirit as we point others back to Him.
This is what an increase of Christ looks like in our lives.
When we die to self to make Him known. This is what we get invited into, and this my sweet friends is something to forever celebrate and celebrate we will!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us celebrate with Prayer,
Psalm 146 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Lord an Abundant Helper.
146 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not trust in princes,
In [c]mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to [d]the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps [e]faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous;
9 The Lord [f]protects the [g]strangers;
He [h]supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He [i]thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
[j]Praise [k]the Lord!
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 