He has risen...Go...

Matthew 28 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. ² And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. ³ And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ The guards shook for fear of him 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 has been crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷ Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

⁸ And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹ Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³ and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

¹⁶ But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As I read through the daily readings I thought perhaps I should reflect on the Old Testament text or the Psalm. I thought that this reading from Matthew 28 would be more appropriate for Easter, for Resurrection Sunday. Then it occurred to me that it is religion and even the world which acknowledges the resurrection on that one day. The text says: The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷ Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.   “He has risen.” Hebrews 13:8 says:   Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.       In Revelation 1:8 Jesus says:   "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

As believers, when we view the resurrection, it should not be as a past tense occurrence. It is not something that happened, it is what was and is and always will be. Jesus is risen. To quote the lyric of the old hymn, We serve a living Savior. He’s in the world today.  The text says:  And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren…”    With fear and great joy, they ran, this should be our reaction each day as we awake to the realization and truth that Jesus is risen. No other religion of man, no human philosophy has its faith in an eternal Lord who conquered death and is risen. If we will, like those women, set our hearts to see Him and to serve and worship Him, we too will find that He is risen. The Old Testament promise of Jeremiah 29:13, holds true:    You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.    We should seek the risen Lord each day, not celebrate His resurrection once a year.

In John 11:25-44, we see the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave:     Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”… But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” ³⁸ So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³ When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Jesus is risen, Romans 8:34 says: Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Jesus Himself, just before His crucifixion and resurrection said:      Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.(John 14:12-14)    Every day, as believers we should walk in the power and the promise of the resurrection. The resurrection is more than something to celebrate, acknowledging it with religious dedication once a year. Again to quote the lyric of an  Easter song:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

All fear is gone, as believers our eternity is secure in Christ. As the psalmist says: In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:10-11) The song though says: And life is worth the living Just because He lives.

Jesus is risen! Don’t wait for Easter Sunday, a day set aside by religion and the world to acknowledge the power and the promise of the resurrection. Today and every day we should be filled with the joy of seeing and serving Jesus, our risen Lord. Today, whether telling His brethren in church or telling the people we meet, we should share the good news that Jesus is alive, He is risen! Today and every day we should hear and heed the words He spoke saying:     “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world. I believe that You are risen and are with the Father. Holy Spirit, I pray that today and every day You would fill me, guide me, empower and enable me to walk in the fullness of the power and the promise of the resurrection, to share the good news of the kingdom with the world, to make disciples of all nations,  to do the works that You did Jesus and the greater works which You have called me to do. I pray in the name of Jesus, the name above all names, the name of the only true and risen Lord. Thank You Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   Amen.