You Can’t Be Serious
John 20:18,19 Mary Magdalene went to the followers and told them, “I saw the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her. The day was Sunday, and that same evening the followers were together. They had the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.
Despite all that Jesus had told His disciples about His coming resurrection, it had fallen on deaf ears. And let’s not be too hard on them. Would you or I have reacted any differently?
I have not once in my whole life seen anyone raised from the dead. How about you? So the promise of a resurrection, I suspect, would have fallen on our deaf ears too, had we been there back then. And then, the report of His resurrection … how would you have reacted? Me? I’d have been pretty darned sceptical, and understandably so.
John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went to the followers and told them, “I saw the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.
Remember, just a couple of days earlier, they’d seen Jesus brutally nailed to a cross. They knew He was dead, and they were in fear of their lives.
John 20:19 The day was Sunday, and that same evening the followers were together. They had the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.
But despite everything … despite their failure to listen to Him, despite their loss, pain, disappointment and fear … Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them. He said, “Peace be with you!”
And whatever you may be going through, despite how badly you feel you may have failed Jesus, He is standing here right now with you, with the same message of peace.
Nothing you’ve done, or how you’ve failed, changes the fact that Christ is risen! Your trust in what He did on that Cross for you means that all your sins are forgiven. Your faith in His resurrection means that the new life He came to bring you is yours – now … and for all eternity. Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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