The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 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.”
Matthew 28:5-7,NIV
This is the most wonderful and exciting day of celebration in the whole of the Christian Calendar. The day when, on that first Easter Day, every prophecy and every plan of God found its focus and fulfilment. And it’s the day for the whole of time when believers can look back with massive thanksgiving to the one day in history when the whole world was turned upside down.
What happened on that day was a tsunami of truth which shook the very gates of hell and had all the angelic hosts in awe and celebration of what God had done in raising His Son from the dead. Death had been conquered and a gateway was opened for fallen man to be freed from the curse of sin and death for ever and ever and ever and evermore.
But the day didn’t begin like that for the disciples. The two Marys were on their way to the tomb with the spices they had prepared (Matt 24:1). They were in mourning for the dead and in spite of what Jesus had said, they were completely unprepared for a personal encounter with an angelic messenger. The essence of the angel’s message is encapsulated in the title of today’s Seed – Come, See, Go and tell.
COME and see that His body is no longer there. SEE for yourself that He is risen from the dead. Then GO and finally TELL. The two Marys were commissioned by an angel to be the first evangelists who would be able to declare, first to the disciples, and then to the whole world that JESUS IS ALIVE!
And those four instructions still encapsulate a message from God to His people – you and I – and all the Church. Come and See, then Go and Tell. Believers have COME to the cross and found it empty. They have SEEN that Jesus is no longer in the grave, and we are now commissioned, just like the angels, to GO – into all the world – and TELL the glorious news that Jesus is risen from the dead. Death has been conquered and in Christ we have nothing to fear. For in Him is LIFE – eternal LIFE! This is Good News to be shared. Let us be determined to take every opportunity God gives us to GO and TELL others what He has done!
Prayer: Thank You, Jesus for being obedient – even unto death. And we are so thankful today that God raised You from the dead. Help us to always be ready to GO and TELL others this amazing good news – that YOU ARE ALIVE! Hallelujah! And that in YOU we, also, are alive for evermore! Amen.