He is Risen!

exactly three months ago... Sunday, January 8, 2012

At this time of night, Joe is snoozing for another 15 minutes until he gets up and gets ready to go to work.  We got a good start on the laundry room floor today (today's picture)... lots of peeling and sticking, and some cutting.  The difficult parts are saved for one day this week when Bud is going to come over and help finish it.  I'm really looking forward to this being done.  

fast forward three months to today:  I am so thankful that Joe was as persistent as he was, and got this floor done - that would have been a beast  to have to take care of myself.  I wish I would have taken another picture this day, or at least gotten his face in this one.  gosh i miss him so much each and every day.  i am so very thankful i got to be with him and that i am carrying our child.

Today is Easter, the most important day for all humankind.  I was at a great service today, and I'm going to share some of my notes (thank you Pastor Rick).

Three things left empty today, showing promises to us:

1.) the empty cross is the sign of the promise of forgiveness of our sins

2.) the empty tomb is the sign of the promise of eternal life (Jesus is saying, "Relax. Death cannot hurt you anymore.")

3.) the empty burial clothes are the sign of the promise of a close relationship with Christ, that he wants to connect with us

... the cross couldn't hold him ... the tomb couldn't contain him ... the burial clothes were unnecessary ...

accounts of Jesus' resurrection from each of the four gospels:

Matthew 28:1-6

"Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.  

Suddenly there was a great earthquake!  For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.  His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.  The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

Then the angel spoke to the women.  "Don't be afraid!" he said.  "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He isn't here!  He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.  Come, see where his body was lying."

Mark 16: 1-6

"Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus' body.  Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb.  On the way they were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"  But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.

When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side.  The women were shocked, but the angel said, "Don't be alarmed.  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He isn't here!  He is risen from the dead!  Look, this is where they laid his body."

Luke 24: 1-7

But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  So they went in, but they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus.  As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground.  Then the man asked, "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?  He isn't here!  He is risen from the dead!!  Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day."

John 20: 1-16

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.  She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb.  They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He stopped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn't go in.  Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside.  He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.  Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed - for until then they still hadn't understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stopped and looked in.  She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where they body of Jesus had been lying.  "Dear woman, why are you crying?" the angels asked her.

"Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put him."

She turned to leave and saw someone standing there.  It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him.  "Dear woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her.  "Who are you looking for?"

She thought he was the gardener.  "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him."
"Mary!" Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for "Teacher").

Today proves:

He was who He claimed to be.  ("I am the Messiah.")

He had the power He claimed to have. ("No one can take life from me.")

He does what He promises to do.  ("I will rise on the 3rd day.")

We are born on a sinking ship like those that boarded the Titanic BUT Jesus makes it possible to be saved.

No one can ever possibly love you as much as Jesus does - he died for you so that you may be forgiven for your sins and have eternal life.