Week of April 12, 2009, John 20:1-18, Easter

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from John, chapter 20, the resurrection story:
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,
7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes,
11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb
12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."
14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

With Mary Magdalene’s cry of faith – “I have seen the Lord” – we come to the realization that Jesus, the One we have read about, thought about, heard about, is truly alive!

Jesus, You truly are the Son of God, as the centurion had exclaimed. When You said, “It is finished,” You are reminding us that everything has been completed and accomplished. You remind us that by Your supreme sacrifice on the cross, dying for our sins – past, present and future sins, that You paid the price, and by that action, have redeemed us, as we put our trust in You, seek forgiveness and turn our lives into Your hands, the great God who knows the best for each of us.

May Your glorious resurrection permeate every part of us, to spur us on to action, to serve, pray, help, to pour out our lives as a living sacrifice of praise to the Savior and Redeemer, our Savior and Lord.

Thanks for Your powerful presence with each of us always. Amen.

May the love of the Lord Jesus draw us to Himself;
May the power of the Lord Jesus strengthen us in His service;
May the joy of the Lord Jesus fill our souls;
May the fire of the Holy Spirit bring comfort, guidance and fervency;
And may the blessing of the almighty and most merciful God - Creator, Word and eternal Holy Spirit - be upon us and remain with us always.
In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.

May God, Father, Spirit and the Risen Jesus Christ, be with you now and always.