Mark 16:1-8
The next evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene
and Salome and Mary the mother of James went out and purchased embalming
spices. Early the following morning, just at sunrise, they carried them out to
the tomb. On the way they were discussing how they could ever roll aside the
huge stone from the entrance. But when they arrived they looked up and saw that
the stone—a very heavy one—was already moved away and the entrance was open! So
they entered the tomb—and there on the right sat a young man clothed in white.
The women were startled, but the angel said, “Don’t be so surprised. Aren’t you
looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified? He isn’t here! He has come
back to life! Look, that’s where his body was lying. Now go and give this
message to his disciples including Peter: “‘Jesus is going ahead of you to
Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died!E2 ” The women fled from the tomb, trembling and
bewildered, too frightened to talk.
Food for the thought
In the Bible, whenever God has to make an announcement of
extreme importance, He sends that message through an angel. Examples, the
conception of Jesus, or the birth of Jesus, were all announced by an angel.
Tonight, another angel announces some important news that is unbelievable:
Jesus who died, now he's risen; was crucified now he is risen; he is not in the
tomb. On that first Easter morning, as dawn was breaking, this special message
was delivered by a special angel to special women: "Don’t be so surprised.
Aren’t you looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified? He isn’t here! He
has come back to life! Look, that’s where his body was lying."
Note this: Jesus is not risen because the tomb is empty
(grave robbers may have stolen the body); the tomb is empty because Jesus is
risen. And Jesus is risen because death
is a phase, not a finality; death is a tunnel, not a cave. It’s a one-way
route to glory, not a dead-end street to oblivion. This is the great message of
the angel; the great message of tonight.
The angel is saying that death is not the end of the
story. There is one more chapter to our story. This is the most important chapter
because, as the saying goes, they who laugh last laugh best; it is the most
important chapter because it is endless. And in the last chapter of the story
of Jesus we see ours too; yes there's one more chapter to our life.
It means that just as life does not begin at birth, but
before birth, life does not end at death; it continues beyond death. It means
that just life does not begin in the womb, but goes through the womb, so too
life does not end in the tomb; life goes through the tomb; just as life has to
know birth, so too life has to know death. We do not live in the womb for ever;
some day, we come out. The same with death, we shall no t stay in the tomb for
ever, we shall come out. Yes, we shall overcome, someday.
"Now go and give this message ... Jesus is going
ahead of you ... You will see him ... just as he told you before he died!"
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