He is not here...

After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. They brought spices (as an act of love to offset the stench of the decaying body.) They worried out loud to each other, "who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?" Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, and came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightening blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened , they couldn't move.

They (the women) walked in but once inside, they couldn't find the body of the Master Jesus.

The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here.

I know you're looking for Jesus,

the One they nailed to the cross.

He is not here. He was raised, just as he said.

Remember how He told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?" Then they remembered Jesus' words. "Come and look at the place where he was placed. Now - get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, "He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there."

The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb.

They ran to tell the disciples all they had seen.

The above passages are excerpts from "The Message" (Eugene Peterson) out of the the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke with notes from John MacArthur's Commentary inserted as necessary to clarify the meaning or draw correlations between the three overall passages. Read and reflect on the the true meaning of His sacrifice and the miracle of the fulfillment of His resurrection and how it impacts you now and how it will impact you later.

May He be praised both now and forevermore!