He is Risen Indeed

 From a very young age I remember one very specific thing about Easter Sunday. It wasn't the candy or anything with a bunny. It was going to church and having someone stand up at the beginning of the service and proclaim, " HE IS RISEN!" and then the congregation responding, "HE IS RISEN INDEED". I'm not sure why this meant so much to me, but it's one of the things I remember most about being a child and growing up going to church. 

    As I continue to look at Matthew chapter 27, something sticks out to me.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” 

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. 

When I read this, I think one of two things, One, after everything that they had seen when Jesus died, there was a part of them that worried they were wrong, and he was the Messiah. Or, Two, they were so crooked, that they were thinking to themselves "What would I do in this situation". And that is what conclusion they came up with. 

Now let's look at the good part of the story, again continuing with Matthew chapter 27.

Jesus Has Risen

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” 

I've been showing the book of Matthew the most this weekend, so it's only fair that I stick with that for the last day. The main thing I want to point out as I read the book of Matthew was verse 2-4. The earthquake had to have happened before the two Mary's got there and no one else must have heard or felt this earthquake. If I was one of the Mary's and felt an earthquake, I think I would have run to the tomb to make sure that everything was ok.  

Let's look at a few of the other gospels to get their perspective. This what I love about Mark chapter 16.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Two things that I want to point out. One, I'm not sure why but I love that it points out that they were bringing spices and that they had a conversation about how they would move the stone in front of the tomb. But two, I also want to point out verse 7. It says go tell his disciples and Peter. I had no problem discussing what Judas did, but I never spent any time on Peter and the three times he denied Jesus. something more for next year. I just want to point out that they are not including Peter with the disciples right now, meaning something is going to happen soon to reconcile all of this. 

In the book of John I just want to point out a few things, lets look at John chapter 24 verses 1-8.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words. 

I love verse 5! Why do you look for the living among the dead? What a powerful thing to say and something that maybe we need to focus on more. I feel like on a daily basis I need to say to myself, " Why are you treating him like he is dead, when you know that he is a wonderful, living God". My point being that if we look at what we truly ask from God on a regular basis we surely don't treat him like a powerful living God. When our main focus is praying that he somehow blesses our 1,000-calorie lunch and makes it healthy or we pray that he helps our headache go away, we are not treating him like a living God. I also love how we read how now that he has risen, they remember his words and find out that he was being literal the whole time. They kept thinking he was talking about a kingdom rising up, or in some cases they didn't have a clue what he was saying. Now all of the sudden everything is completely clear. 

As we celebrate Easter today, or even if you are reading this on a random day, remember, We have a powerful living God, and we need to recognize that!