Nail Prints to Foot Prints...
Following Jesus
A devotional for
Monday, April 24
Mark: 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
The Disciples' lives were in chaos. They had seen their hopes hung on a cross and given over to the enemy. As far as they were concerned, their ministry was over. They had hung a "gone fishing" sign on their hearts and left. Judas had betrayed Jesus. Peter had denied Jesus three times. The other disciples had abandoned him. None but John had apparently even stayed around to witness the final chapter to the book being played out. Jesus was dead, and so were their dreams. But wait! Jesus wasn't dead. Just as he had predicted, on the third day he had risen. The tomb was empty. Just as an Angel had delivered the news of the arrival of a savior thirty some years earlier to the shepherds in a field outside of Bethlehem, another Angel was delivering a more significant message to a small group of believers outside of an empty tomb. The message of the resurrection had been delivered to a lost and dying world.
The message of the resurrection. What was that message? To understand the full impact of the message of the resurrection, I believe you have to examine the events that occurred in the days immediately following the discovery of the empty tomb. Jesus did not immediately appear to the masses of believers and then ascend into heaven. He still had unfinished business on earth. He had to seek out Peter. "Do You Love Me?" "Feed My Sheep!" was the question that was asked of Peter three times. There was Thomas. Jesus had to make a second appearance just to satisfy his skepticism. There were the two men on the road to Emmaus. Broken hearted and struggling to comprehend what had happened, Jesus was there to show them that everything was all right and was working according to the Father's plan. In examining these and other events, I have realized that the resurrection message isn't a generic message of deliverance to the world. It is a message to the individual. It's the message that Jesus can take the broken and make him whole. It's the message that Jesus can take the skeptic and give him faith. It's the message that Jesus can take the hopeless and restore his hope. It's the message of reconciliation and restoration to the world, one person at a time.
As a thirty-three year old man, I had just buried my father. As those times often do, events were causing me to contemplate my own life, and mortality. I was reflecting on the fact that I had grown up in the church, knew all the answers, even before the questions were asked, and I had turned my back on all of it, and followed my own path, rather badly. On the Saturday following the funeral, God chose to intervene in my life and sent me his own angel to deliver "my" resurrection message. He came in the form of the Pastor of my brother-in-law's church. He had just stopped by to let me know that if I needed anything, or just wanted to talk, he had recently buried his own father, could understand what I was dealing with, and he was available. My first reaction was one of anger. How could he possibly know what I was dealing with? He doesn't know my background, or my feelings, or how badly I have messed up my life. I briskly dismissed him and slammed the door in his face. However, the seed of hope had been planted. The planted seed that would be realized within a short period of time. It was the beginning of my own journey of reconciliation and restitution that Jesus began so many years ago, when he conquered death and brought life. A message that continues today, one lost and broken soul at a time.
Glenn Harris
Omaha, NE USA
Prayer for today:
Lord of the Universe! Lord of my life. I praise you that you chose to die on that
cross for my sins. I praise you that you choose to seek us out as individuals for
salvation. I praise you that you don't ever leave us where you find us, but seek
to restore us, as well as redeem us. Thank you for being the Lord of my life, and
for giving me far more than I ever hoped for, much less deserved. Give me the
compassion to tell others about the message of the resurrection, and what it has
meant to my life and to the lives of those that I love.
In the name of Jesus.
Amen!
[Psalms 93, 98] [Exod. 12:14-27] [ I Cor. 15:1-11] [Mark 16:1-8]
Visit:
1999 Advent/Christmas Series
Epiphany Series
or suggestions toYvonne Edwards.
Edited: April 18, 9:05 p.m.
Page designed by: Cecil Wallace
Prayer by: Glenn Harris
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