Welcome to a Special Edition Daily Digest!
During Holy Week we have six special Daily Digest Devotions for you. These devotions will be posted at 6am daily from Monday, April 11th through Saturday, April 16th. In addition to the Daily Digest, tune in to Facebook Live each day at noon for a discussion of the day's topic.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 28:1-10
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Devotion
As we’ve traveled through different aspects of the gospel narrative this Easter, today we get the
chance to travel alongside Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph to
encounter the moment that changed everything for us.
The ground shook, an angel appeared from heaven and as the women arrived, they saw the
stone rolled away, the guards passed out from fear of what they had witnessed, and the angel
waiting to deliver a message.
“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” -Matthew 28:6
We once found ourselves in the grave, wrapped up in our sin and sentenced to certain death,
Jesus changed everything in this one act. As he died with all of our sin, he rose back to life, our
sin and the death we deserved for it was left in the grave, defeated. What once was immovable
in our own ability, as we place our belief in Jesus and what he has accomplished on our behalf,
we go from alone and defeated to oneness with Christ and victorious!
As we walk out of the grave, our belief pressed tightly to the presence of our risen Savior, we
can look into the tomb to be reminded of what’s been left behind and forward to the hope of
new life that lies ahead.
In the grave remain the moments, where we were defined by the sins and failures of yesterday
and filled with hopelessness. Jesus has allowed us to enter this space where our performance
and ability mean nothing because he has accomplished all that we couldn’t. As the stone was
rolled away, the light of heaven covered our darkness, opening a doorway to a personal
relationship with God, the Father, and Creator of this world. A relationship where we can truly
get to know and experience His love for eternity.
As Jesus appears to the women on their travels, we see his purpose all along was to be with us,
to meet us in the everyday mundane moments of our lives so we can experience life in the
fullest such as he did. With Jesus, this power that rose him from the grave gives now lives
within us giving us strength to endure the challenges of life and hope to see opportunity where
we once saw impossible. This moment is much more than just an Easter message to hear once a year. It’s the moment that saves us daily, where the barriers to transformation and growth
were shattered to bring us into a process of becoming more like our Savior.
This is the moment that changed human flourishing forever.
At times we may still sin and falter, but don’t let the enemy fool you to think you’re still trapped
in the grave. As the two women peered into the tomb only to find it empty, they were filled
with “fear”, fear of the unknown possibilities of what’s to come, and “great joy” of the man who
they thought had died was the Son of God who had risen. In his resurrection, we see Jesus in his
truest form. Set your eyes upon Jesus and never forget the tomb is empty.
What do the words; “He is not here, he has risen,” mean to you?
How has the truth of Jesus’ resurrection changed your life? How does it continue to
change and grow you daily?
How does knowing Jesus’ desire to meet you in the everyday mundane moments of
your life change how you handle challenging moments you face?
Join Pastor Jordan today at noon on Facebook Live for a discussion of today's devotion.
