He is risen. "I am with you always."

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 tomb. 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 from fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵ And 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 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to 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 to His disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, bring word to My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹ Now while they were on their way, some of the men from 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 at night and stole Him while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him 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 to them. ¹⁷ And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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 follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Today’s 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. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, bring word to My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Now while they were on their way, some of the men from the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and keep you out of trouble.” 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.  

It is almost unbelievable what people will do and say to discredit God and Christ. It happened then concerning the resurrection and it still happens today. Lies are told in an attempt to change the truth. A lie though does not become truth because it is repeated. When new lies are told because the first ones weren’t effective, it discredits the liars not the truth. Truth is not relative or subjective as many today believe that it is. We often hear it said that we should follow the science, but then the science changes. It isn’t the truth that has changed, it is the understanding of the truth, or the manipulation of the truth for the sake of an agenda that has changed. That chief priests and the guards conspired to tell a lie did not change the truth that Jesus is risen. Anyone today who says Jesus was, but no longer is has believed and is repeating a lie. In Revelation 1:8 the Lord says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The text says:  The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Even then, among those who stood with the risen Lord, some were doubtful. We are so conditioned by the world to accept only the natural and the ordinary, that we sometimes find it difficult to believe in the supernatural and the extraordinary. We struggle to comprehend, with our finite minds, who an infinite God is, that He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and eternal.

We have a choice. We can either believe the ever changing stories, the theories, the opinions and speculations of people who have their own agenda, or we can believe the unchanging truth of the word of God and the God of the word. Jesus is risen. He says: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, I believe the truth. Thank You for always being with me. By the power of the Holy Spirit may I not only believe the truth, but may I also be a truth teller, responding to Jesus call and commission to: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you.  Amen.