Easter
E ~ Is For ENTER The King
A ~ Is For AFFLICTION
S ~ Is For SUFFICIENT SACRIFICE
T ~ Is For The TOMB Is Empty!
John 20:1-30
‘Now You Don’t See Him (Jesus), Now You Do’
Have you ever placed something (of value or maybe useful to your life) somewhere for safe keeping, come back to find it later, and it is not there anymore? (like your keys, or your Bible, or that special card you bought for someone, or you just know someone stole your car because you parked it right there, or your child, etc…been there, done ‘em all) It ’kinda’ throws you off balance…flusters ya….or ticks ya off (he he), doesn’t it. Can you imagine Mary’s panic (emotion), finding that the stone had been rolled away from ‘The TOMB’, and Jesus was missing? Peter and John were thrown off balance too…I love this part…the Scripture says that John out-ran Peter and came in first (place..I added that). Must have been quite the foot race. Oh, and here’s that word ‘BELIEVED’ again. Verses 8 & 9 say, “Then went in also that other Disciple, which came first to the TOMB, and he saw, and believed (I think it means that he just believed Jesus was not there). For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.”
After that, Peter and John went away. But Mary stayed at the TOMB, and wept. The Scripture says that she saw two angels sitting in the place where Jesus had lay. She told them she was crying because her Lord had been taken away and she didn’t know where He was. Then she saw Jesus, but thought He was the gardener (He spoke to her, but she didn’t recognize Him). But when Jesus called her by name, Mary, she knew who He was. Her panic turned to excitement when she found what (who) she thought was lost. Mary went and told the Disciples.
Next, Jesus reveals Himself to the Disciples bringing words of peace, instruction, and the comfort and power of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now enters ‘doubting’ Thomas. I feel so bad every time I call Thomas ‘doubting’. Poor Thomas, he spent the next eight days (after Jesus appeared to the Disciples) saying and thinking…”unless I see and touch the nail prints, and thrust my hand into Jesus side, I will not BELIEVE”. But you know, Jesus again appeared to the Disciples and stood in the midst of them. And Jesus said to Thomas (I’ll bet Jesus called Thomas by name, just like He did Mary), “be not faithless and BELIEVE…touch me“. Thomas said to Jesus, “my Lord and my God“.
I know that Jesus next words were, “Thomas because you have seen, you have BELIEVED: blessed are those who have not seen and BELIEVE“. But, I think that Jesus loved Thomas so much that He would not leave him in his un-BELIEF.
I think that the sight of the empty TOMB must have been very frightening for Mary and the Disciples, But the sight of Jesus was joy to their hearts. As it should be for us. The more we see of Jesus, the more joyful our hearts.
As we continue into the latter part of the “Passion Week”, think about the excitement Mary felt when Jesus spoke her name. Think about that moment in Thomas’ life when Jesus said to him, “touch me and BELIEVE”. If tomorrow, you are one who marks the day as “Good Friday”, remember that the TOMB IS EMPTY. I for one, will participate in a very special “Good Friday” service. Because, the more I see Jesus, the more joyful my heart.
Question to Ponder: Why is the Friday before Easter Sunday referred to as ’Good’?
Scripture to Ponder: John 20:31
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Bible Studies, Sharing The Gospel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
