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Risen

Dawn! Empty Tomb! Risen! Love! LIFE!

by TerryLema

One of the best questions ever asked in history was asked that Sunday morning.  “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” [Luke 24:5b HCSB]

Why indeed!  The greatest of all announcements was made to a group of weeping women who had come to do what was expected.  They were going to anoint the body of Jesus for burial, something they were unable to do on Friday as the Sabbath began.  Now an angel asks the question and reminds them of Jesus’ own words.

“He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day?’” [Luke 24:6-7 HCSB]

Luke goes on to say, “And they remembered His words.”  [Luke 24:8 HCSB]

They remembered.  They remembered!  And each Resurrection Day we remember.  This day is so much more than new clothes and going to church.  It is so much more than ritual and liturgy.  It is a common day of celebration among those who have experienced every day in their own lives what those poor weeping women experienced that first Sunday morning.

Dawn! Empty Tomb! Resurrection! Love! Life!

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by TerryLema

After the last few chapters of Luke, this chapter awakens the soul to joy!

What must it have been like when the women went to the tomb that Sunday morning and found the stone rolled away and heard the greatest announcement? “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” [vs 5 HCSB]

Why, indeed!  Jesus was not in that tomb. The women were reminded that this was exactly what Jesus had said must happen.  Then the women … yes women … ran to the disciples to announce that Jesus was alive! “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things.” [vs 10 HCSB]

I find that most amazing. God used women to testify to the resurrection of Jesus. This was at a time when the word of women carried no weight. In Jesus’ day their testimony was even considered inadmissible in a court of law.

But no matter the gender of the messenger, it is the message which brings peace and comfort to the soul. Our LORD Christ Jesus is not in the tomb. He is Risen! And now He brings that Resurrection Life to us.

Christmas is about so much more than a simple story of a couple that could not find lodging and ended up having their baby born in a shelter for animals. Christmas without the cross would not exist. And the cross without Christmas would just be another case of capital punishment in the Roman era. Christmas and the Cross need each other.

And God’s magnificent exclamation point is the Resurrection! Without that, we would never celebrate Christmas or Easter!

Our LORD Christ Jesus, Immanuel (God with us!) came to seek and save the lost. Us. He became a helpless babe born in humble circumstances. He died on a Roman Cross and was buried. And then, rose from the grave. “Why seek the living among the dead!”

Why, indeed!

 

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Still Risen!

by TerryLema

“On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.” [John 20:1 HCSB]

“In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’” [John 20:19 HCSB]

Yesterday we celebrated Resurrection Sunday, remembering our LORD Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. I have heard it said that the stone could not keep Him in, and the locked door could not keep Him out.

Today, one day after Easter 2021, we celebrate the fact that nothing has changed. Jesus is (still) Risen, He is Risen Indeed(!) and His resurrection life has marvelous ramifications for those of us who have placed our faith in Him.

“…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”  [Hebrews 7:24-25 NIV]

That wonderful word that describes our salvation as “completely” is translated in the NKJV as “to the uttermost.”

It is “panteles” and means completely, entirely, perfectly, through all time.

Just as there was nothing on earth, in heaven or hell strong enough to hold Jesus that first Resurrection Sunday, there is nothing on earth, in heaven or hell strong enough to keep Him from saving His own!  We live forevermore in “Jesus is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!”  Hallelujah!

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How could I forget?

by TerryLema

I woke up this morning and realized next Sunday is Resurrection Sunday (Easter) already. Then I realized something else, four days after Easter we are heading to California to celebrate our youngest grandson’s birthday and hopefully see his brother play football, one of his last games as a senior before he heads off to college in Arizona.

How could I forget Easter?  Usually, I spend weeks preparing for Easter Service.

 Perhaps I can blame my forgetfulness on having other urgent things on my mind. Or maybe, I just was not paying attention to the calendar.  Whatever reason, I now have one week to prepare for Easter Service.

As I thought about that this morning, I realized it is only the service for which I need to prepare.  My heart needs no preparation to celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus, my Savior and LORD, for the Risen Savior dwells there all the time.

Paul reminded Timothy in his final letter, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead.”  [2 Timothy 2:8a NIV]

I like the way the Holman Christian Standard translates it: “Keep your attention on Jesus Christ as risen from the dead.”

Easter Sunday comes once a year … but keeping our attention on Christ Jesus raised from the dead is an everyday, sometimes every moment mission. It is a mission I love!

I may forget the date we celebrate each year; I never forget what we celebrate!  He is Risen, Risen Indeed.

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