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Hear the devotional read here: https://bit.ly/3tZPXNH
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag'dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; 5 and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, 7 and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rab-bo'ni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 18 Mary Mag'dalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18 RSV)
Happy Monday ConCafe Family! And may this week bless you, Friend, with wonderful surprises and opportunities in which you bless others! We continue to pray for our nation; pray especially for the hungry in this country, as well as other countries. May we find ways to help the Lord provide food for the hungry. Pray for one another; pray for yourselves.
This coming Sunday is the Super Bowl/World Series/World Champion Sunday of all Sundays. It is Resurrection Sunday, also called Easter Sunday. It is a wonderful day for our faith because it is when we, the Church, declare our faith in the One who died on Good Friday on a cross and bore the sins of the world. And it is also our sins that God bore and His death erased our sins. This is the passage that John shares in his gospel to describe the events of the day.
It was on a Sunday morning, after the Sabbath was over, that the women came to the tomb with the needed part of their faith regarding the dead, and that was to prepare the body for burial. Their process was to anoint the body with fragrances and spices. Jesus' tomb was a hollowed out cave, and this cave was provided by Joseph of Arimathea. The tomb you will remember was guarded by Roman soldiers to ensure that the disciples did not steal the body in the middle of the night and then perpetuate the lie they feared would be a resurrection. The tomb was also sealed with a huge stone that it was believed required more than one man to roll into and out of place. It was power that brought Jesus back to life, and power that rolled away the stone, and that power was the power of God. And in this account, when Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb, the stone was was rolled away and the tomb was empty. Mary then runs to the disciples and tells Simon Peter and John Mark and she relays the scene as she found it. "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." That was all she needed to say and the two took off running to see for themselves. The run to the tomb becomes a foot race and age wins out; yet it was maturity that allowed the slower one to walk in while the younger stood outside with fear.
It is interesting to note that while the two disciples had been inside, they did not see what Mary saw when she finally went in; two angels dressed in white, sitting in the place where Jesus had been lain. None of this was comforting her, for she continued to weep. When she turns she sees Jesus, but did not know it was Him. He says to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Mary thinks Jesus is the gardener and asks him, "If you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will tkae Him away." She's thinking Jesus is dead, and is willing to carry His body off with her. But it was Jesus who spoke to her and called her by name, "Mary." She reacts by calling Him, "Rabboni," which means teacher and further tells her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary then goes to the disciples and says to them, "I have seen the Lord," and also told them the other things that Jesus shared with her. The rest, is our history.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the birth of the Christian Church. The declaration that a man who died a painfully excruciating death could, three days later, rise from the death, well frankly, to many, is unbelievable. I have shared how I had a seminary professor lecture on the Resurrection as being a "faith event," meaning it was something that only those who believed in Jesus could actually "see" the once dead man, alive. He went on to say that the objective eye of a camera could not have recorded the resurrection, because it was only happening in the minds of those who believed. I shook my head in disbelief and checked it off as something some members of my future churches might hold as their "faith," and found out that yes, I have had members who do not truly believe in resurrection of any kind; not of Jesus and not of themselves. While you and I were not on hand on that date some two thousand years ago, we hold fast to a faith that believes that the God Who created all things out of nothing, could indeed bring life to a dead man. The gospels record several resurrections, Lazarus' being the most famous, of persons who were dead as coming back to life. Those all later died, of course, but Jesus is still alive. What does Paul's ministry say about the Resurrection? That the Christ who died and rose to Heaven, came and called him into ministry by name and stayed with him as he did a large share of the conversion of the known world into faith.
May our faith be super strong this year; that our faith may bring light and hope to those who still struggle in what they do or do not believe.
PRAYER: Father, into Thy hands we commend our faith. The challenges and losses of this past year have shaken many, but we pray for strength and boldness to hold fast to You and Your Son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior. May our faith help to bring new life to those spiritually dying or dead; may it bring light to those in darkness, and may we together work to bring righteousness into this world. We pray in the name of He Who rose from the dead for us, Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share a little Resurrection faith today with those in need!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
