Photo: Canva
For other posts in this series, click here.
Hallelujah! He is risen. That Easter Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb with heavy hearts to complete the burial process. We know the end of the story, but they didn’t. Contrary to many religious teachers today, the initial response of Jesus’ followers was not, “Oh, He has risen from the dead!” despite the fact that they had seen him heal many and even bring people back from death. Mary’s response to the man she thought was the gardener was, “Please tell me where you have taken His body.” Luke 24:1-12 Mathew 28:1-10 Mark 16:1-12 John 20:1-18
The empty tomb did not immediately bring joy and delight to Jesus’ followers. They did not assume He had risen. They wanted to find his body just like anyone would. They were not stupid, backward people in that sense at all! So rather than having an immediate excitement among Jesus’ followers that He was risen, there was probably more of a suspended wondering about what had happened to His body since the tomb was empty.
The truth of the Resurrection slowly unfolded as the day moved on and Jesus’ followers saw Him
As the day unfolded, more and more people saw Jesus in person and the reports of His being seen were verified. Gradually, the joy over the Resurrection was spreading. The news was true. Jesus was actually alive. He was reminding them of things He had said before He died. Then they remembered. Oh yes. That’s right. When they heard it before, they heard it with one set of ears. Now, they heard it with another set of ears. It made sense but the message was definitely a different one than they heard the first time because they were looking for an earthly kingdom. That wasn’t what Jesus was about at all!
We are living in the already but not yet.
Jesus was here to conquer sin and the effects of its brokenness on all of us. The Kingdom is coming when all will be restored completely. But not yet. Sin and death have been conquered at the cross. Satan knows it. Now we are living during the in-between. the already but not yet. That period when our salvation is completed on the cross, but the brokenness from sin is not yet gone from our bodies, souls, and creation. That restoration will come when Christ returns.
But this isn’t meant to be a long post. Today, we think about the joy of the Resurrection. Enjoy this newish hymn from the Gettys.
