Start today's devotional time by reading about Jesus' resurrection in whichever Gospel you've been reading from these four weeks:
Matthew 28
Mark 16:1-20
Luke 24:1-53
John 20-21
Take a minute and imagine yourself to be one of the women who went to Jesus' tomb on Sunday morning. Understand that you had put all of your hope in this man, Jesus. You were convinced that he was the Messiah that the prophets had promised would come to set God's people free. You had experienced the miraculous touch of his hand yourself and knew in your heart of hearts that he was THE ONE.
And yet, only days before you had watched as Roman soldiers nailed him to a cross and left him to die. You watched him struggle for every breath, his blood pouring out from the countless wounds on his body. And your heart shattered into a thousand pieces as you witnessed his last breath, his final words.
You had played the part of a faithful Jew and waited for the Sabbath to end before coming to give Jesus a proper burial, and it was all you could do not to run headlong toward the place where all your hope lay...behind a heavy, cold stone, lying in a tomb.
You arrived at the tomb, your heart heavy with a grief that threatened to suffocate you, only to find the body of your Lord to be GONE.
How? How could it be GONE? It just wasn't possible! Who would've done such a thing? Why would someone take him? Will this avenue of grief never end?
And then came that wonderful, glorious moment when hope sprang alive again in great, joyous fountains... When you looked and saw that He was not gone, He was ALIVE!
How do you respond in that moment? What goes through your mind? your heart? What do you do, what do you say?
Give that genuine response to God in a time of prayer and celebration. And then make sure to write your thoughts down in your journal.
