ESOCS Devotional 31 March 2024 – He is Risen
MEMORY VERSE: “And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew 28:5-6
TEXT: ST. MATTHEW 28:1-15
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, 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.
9 And]as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
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The gospel, our faith, salvation and future glory are all hinged on the very important fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the Easter miracle. After His burial, the Chief Priests made concrete moves to at least ensure that His disciples will not steal Hs body at night and deceive the world that He had risen. At their request, Pilate gave permit to place Roman soldiers at the sepulcher to guard it against grave robbers (Matt. 27:62-66). Surprisingly, after the Lord’s resurrection, the same Chief Priests, which ensured that grave thieves could not gain access to the sepulcher were the ones who bribed the soldiers with large sum of money to lie that the body was stolen by His disciples, while they, the soldiers on guard slept. It was all an attempt to discredit and destroy the testimony of the resurrection, the testimony upon which our faith and salvation stands. But thank God that as the days after the resurrection progressed from generation to generation the incontrovertible facts of the resurrection have kept piling up positively and indisputably.
“He is not here, He is risen as he said.” Yes! He did tell them several times that the Son of man shall be betrayed at Jerusalem, the Chief Priests shall hand Him over to the gentiles, which shall scourge Him and crucify Him and on the third day He would rise again (see Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23;20:17). The disciples didn’t remember that He said He would rise again on the third day, neither could they at this time understand the significance of His resurrection. It is important to emphasize here that His resurrection on the third day was not incidental; it was so designed by God the Father from the beginning. Christ knew it and revealed it to everyone before His coronation. It took the angel to remind them at the sepulcher that Easter morning (Lk. 24:6-8).
But what is the significance of His resurrection to you? To Mary, her well cherished Master, Love and Savior is alive. The fear of not seeing Him again, even His corpse was dissipated. He is risen! She could hold Him once again and cast herself into His loving and protective arms forever. To Peter and John, they saw and believed. Believed all that Jesus had taught them, believed all that He prophesied about Himself. Believed that He is truly the Savior of the world and that He had accomplished man’s salvation. To Paul, the resurrection of Jesus the Son of man is a confirmation that all who die in Christ shall be raised by the same power, which raised Jesus from the dead. Salvation sealed and delivered.
Brethren, as you celebrate this Easter, it is important while rejoicing to constantly renew your filial bond with Him. Like Mary, desire to be with Him always. You may not see Him physically now but spiritually He is with you always, even to the end of the world. Like Job, know that your Redeemer liveth and that you shall see with your own eyes in His full glory when you shall also be clad with a glorious body, your heritage above. Rejoice and have a Happy Easter.
- How is our salvation tied to the resurrection of Christ?
- Father, I pray thee strengthen my Faith in the resurrection, in Jesus name.
Further Reading: John 2:19; Luke 24:5-8
ESOCS Devotional 31 March 2024
