As the morning began to dawn on the first day of the week after Jesus had died on the cross, some women came to the tomb to finish preparing the body of our Lord for burial. They came to finish the burial preparations that had been started by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithea on the evening of the day our Lord died (John 19:38-42). While these women were heading to the tomb, our Lord’s disciples were locked up inside the Upper Room trembling in fear that the same kind of death awaited them (John 20:19). Certainly, these women were sad and the disciples were scared, it hadn’t been an easy few days, as a matter of fact they were told by Jesus “the Shepherd would be smitten and the sheep had scattered (Mark 14:27).
In the midst of their sadness that morning, God moved in several mighty ways to encourage the hearts of these saddened believers
- He rolled the stone away from the tomb – (Mark 16:2-3)…..Not to let Jesus out, but to allow the Lord’s followers in
- He sent an angelic messenger with the good news that Jesus was alive from the dead – (Mark 16:5-7)
- He had a word of encouragement for Peter, who had denied Him – (Mark 16:7)
- He met Mary Magdalene outside the tomb – (John 20:11-17)
- He left a message for His followers inside the tomb – (John 20:5-8)
- He revealed Himself to two disciples as they traveled – (Luke 24:13-35)
- He met with His disciples that evening to show them all that He was alive – (John 20:19-25)
- He met them a week later just to give Thomas the assurance that He was alive – (John 20:26-29)
Even though they were saddened when they first saw an empty tomb, they could not have imagined that Jesus was (is) ALIVE! Believer, our Lord is not dead, He is alive Forever More!