1Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone from the door and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. 5The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
8They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”
They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
10Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”
11Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12When they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers, 13saying, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. 14If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry.” 15So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.
16But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. 17When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted. 18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone from the door and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. 5 The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
All of us experience doubts in our faith at one time or another. The last few days had been horrible. His followers had seen Jesus mocked. They had seen men spit on Him and beat Him mercilessly. Then they saw Him callously paraded through the streets. It had ended horribly. They gazed in unbelief as the Roman soldiers pinned Him to the ground and took out that awful hammer and drove those huge spikes into His wrists and His feet, nailing Him to the cross. They could feel the pain as they saw His body hoisted up and the vertical pole was dropped in the hole. It seemed like the jolt was going to tear His writhing body from the horrible death machine. The whole promise of a resurrection faded in their minds. It was finally put to rest when they saw Joseph of Arimathea take the body down and lay it in his tomb. It was over. They were too traumatized by the present event even to begin to imagine there might be something different coming. They had no expectations.
After a few days had passed, they went back to the tomb. They didn’t go back to it with one ounce of belief or any expectation that what He had said about rising from the dead had come to pass. They weren’t going there to celebrate a resurrection as He had promised. They were going to finish the task of anointing a dead body. They had NO EXPECTATION THAT HE HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD. We, too, sometimes have a hard time taking Jesus at His word. Things look too grim. Things look too hopeless. Things don’t turn out how we thought they would. Our expectations for something better fade away. And then, just as we’ve given up hope beyond hope, we look and see an angel sitting by the tomb. That angel is there telling us the exact same thing he said to those hopeless women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said.” This same Jesus who rose from the dead is alive and well. He resides in heaven, and He is interested and involved in every situation and circumstance of our lives. It’s not “over”. Even when we’ve given up hope beyond hope, we must utter the words of the Psalmist, “When I am afraid, I will trust in Thee” (Psalm 56:3). He is faithful and just, and even when it seems like we’ve been abandoned, the risen Christ will come to our rescue. He has told us that He will never leave us or forsake us. And that's a promise.