HE IS RISEN!
The people had been hoping an impossible hope. God promised a savior, a redeemer, a hero, to rescue them from their sin."Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! Job 19:23-27Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!" I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 118:15-29Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back--it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you." And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Mark 16:1-8
Adam and Eve were the first to receive, and believe, this promise.
Abraham and Sarah were told they would be the ancestors of this promise.
Moses oversaw the mere foretaste of the sacrifice the promise would require.
David held fast to the promise that his descendant would be his Lord.
Isaiah saw that this long waited for promise would bear unspeakable burden and punishment.
Mary was chosen to be the mother of this promise.
John went on ahead, proclaiming the promise was near.
Peter, James, and John were called by the promise to follow.
Bartimaeus was healed by this promise.
Lazarus was raised to life by this promise.
Pilate oversaw the trial, flogging, and execution of the promised Messiah.
Joseph and Nicodemus treated the promise with honor in burial.
The women went to the tomb to care for the promise one last time.
None of them could believe it, though. After three years of learning from the Man who spoke with authority none had ever held, after hoping that He would be the fulfillment of the promise, He was dead. The dream that seemed so real just a week ago when He entered Jerusalem was as dead as their Lord. And to add insult to injury, His body was not given the full care it deserved, was hastily buried, and was under armed guard.
There was no joy that morning as the women approached the tomb.
There was only fear, uncertainty, and pain. Had this Man not been the long expected Christ? Had they wasted their time, chasing after a meaningless dream?
But the only guard at the tomb that morning was a single man, dressed in white. No Roman soldiers in sight. The stone was already rolled away. The grave clothes had been neatly folded. What could this mean?!
"You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here."The Son of David, the Living Word of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings, the man of Nazareth named Jesus WAS NOT DEAD!
Christ Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead. He conquered death by death, and killed sin upon the cross. He did what no human could do. He satisfied the consequence no sacrifice could meet.
It is finished indeed.
Christ Is Risen!
Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη
He Is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!
Ἀνέστη Ἀληθῶς
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