He isn’t here!

 Mathew 28-1-10 v 5 -6 “Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He has risen from the dead.”

Early on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! An angel rolled the stone away and sat on it. His face shone like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He has risen from the dead.” The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.

Matthew gives us another side of the story of the women coming to the tomb on Easter Sunday. He tries to answer questions around, how was the stone rolled away? Why did the guards not prevent the women from entering the tomb? And as they ran away, they saw Jesus, worshiped Him, then He repeated the message “go to Galilee”.

I remember an exercise in a history class in high school where we were read a story then had to write about it. The teacher then picked a few to read their account of the story. It surprised me at the time how different the stories were of the same scene. Here we see different details from the account in John 20. Was there one angel or two? Did the women touch Jesus or not? Despite the difference in the story the message is the same. Jesus’s body was not there. The women saw and spoke with Him. They were filled with great joy, and it was time to move forward.

The message of the Easter story is the same for you and I today. Jesus isn’t in the tomb. He is with us. Whatever struggles you are in now try to look forward and find the great joy in life understanding that Jesus is waiting to meet you just down the road.

Prayer: Holy God who realized that we all need different angles of a story to help us understand that Jesus is not in the tomb, but with you, and willing to meet us. Hallelujah. Amen.