He is Risen!

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,[a] and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

Matthew 28:1-8

I love this passage! These women are distraught by the great grief of the death of Jesus. Then they experience the supernatural in an amazing way! An earthquake hits due to an angel descending from heaven and rolling back the stone no man could move! He looks like lightening! What a picture. The guards appear to have passed out. The angel tells these two not to be afraid, he knows they seek Christ who was crucified! He then shares the greatest news mankind has ever had. Jesus defeated death and He has Risen! He then instructs them to go quickly and tell the disciples!

What an amazing morning, a morning that changed all of history and has the power to change every life today.

As many have these last weeks I have been reading sermons by Billy Graham and am sharing a few quotes that seemed so appropriate as we look at this story:

“When Jesus hung on the cross, a great unseen cosmic battle raged in the heavens—and in the end, Christ triumphed over all the forces of evil and death and hell.”

“Christ broke the bonds of death by His resurrection, and from that moment on, Satan was a defeated foe.”

That is our hope and our message, the Risen Christ. No longer are we under the reign of Satan and Sin. Through Christ the debt was paid, the battle for mankind once and for all, fought and won. All man needs to do is recognize this truth, repent and come to Jesus! This is the hope we bring to those who are in pain or shame or confusion. Billy says: “It was the resurrection of Christ that caused the disciples to go out as burning young revolutionaries to change the world of their day. They preached that Christ was alive.”

That is the exact same message that may make us seem like revolutionaries when we bring the news that Christ is indeed Alive! .

Paul so adeptly summarizes what the resurrection means as he prays this for us:

18 By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),

19 And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,

20 Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],

21 Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.

22 And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church 23 Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all

2And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins

4 But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved ([d]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us [e]joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

“The resurrection of Christ changed the midnight of bereavement into a sunrise of reunion; it changed the midnight of disappointment into a sunrise of joy; it changed the midnight of fear to a sunrise of peace.”

Billy Graham

This is our hope, this is our confidence and this is our message. Christ rose and the same power that raised him from the dead He has gives to us as we place our faith in Him. We now walk in His love, His peace and His power to bring this revolutionary message to those in our own corner of the world this Easter Season.