We were off to the cabin for the weekend and being without Internet and poor phone service, my version of part four had to wait till today. That's OK though, because the time at the mountains, relaxing, and spending time with my family was great!!! (Mountain pics will be posted maybe later today?!)
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We left off at the where the ladies that went to the tomb to put the burial spices they prepared on the body of Jesus, found a very different outcome! When they arrived at the tomb, the huge stone was rolled away and there were angels at the entrance. They were afraid. They have possibly never seen such a bright light. Mary might have known immediately that "this is a God thing" because she would have had encounters like these before.?. That bright light probably brought back some warm feelings deep into her soul!
The angel told the women to come see the empty tomb. They place where Jesus was laid dead now was just an empty spot. Then the angel said to them, "Go quickly, and tell his disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him: lo, I have told you."
The ladies took off running to tell the disciples about this great happening! I wonder if they dropped their carefully made spices on the ground, dug their heals in the dust, and went running? Or did they stand there in shock thinking about how all this must have taken place before telling the disciples? One thing for sure, they knew what they were told and the saw that Jesus was no longer in the grave! They ran to tell the disciples. In Matthew 28:9, it tells us that when the women left the sepulchre "with fear and great joy", Jesus met them. He said, "All hail." The ladies ran to Him and grabbed His feet and worshipped Him. Jesus said, "Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."
While the ladies were off to find the disciples and tell them about this wonderful news, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests what had just happened! Oh to the see the faces of these guys when they were told this would have great! I bet they got mad! They probably blamed the guards for not doing their job right! They had to wonder "what next"? Well, they got all the elders and the counsel together and came up with a quick plan. They gave the soldiers a large sum of money and told them this, "Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept." They made up a story! They rehearsed this plan with the soldiers probably over and over to make sure they got the false story right. I am sure the soldiers asked a lot of questions. Every time you make up a lie, you have to keep making up lies to cover up the true happenings. I can't imagine what was all gossiped and spread with this make belief story! It says in the Bible though that they took the money and did as they were taught! It also says that "this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day." Some still believe that this is really what happened!
When the women finally got to the disciples, they didn't believe them. It says, "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." These men have seen a lot in the past few days and now yet to believe this story was asking a lot for them to believe ... so they thought! It was true! I can just imagine the ladies believing with all their heart what had just happened and now to get this in the heads and hearts of these men might be tough to do!
Well, leave it Peter and John, because they were off in a flash to look for themselves! Jesus has done so many things right before their very eyes and He did say He would rise again! They would have to go and see! Could it really be true? Peter and John ran together to the tomb but the closer they got, John took off ahead of Peter. John got there first. Puffing from running so fast. His heart nearly beating out of chest! I love this part because it's so comical about what we know of Peter's personally. John stooped down at the tomb entrance and was looking in. He saw the linen clothes laying there empty. But he didn't go inside. Just then Peter comes running up from behind. No stopping him, he went right into the empty tomb! He was going to see, to feel, to look, and possibly believe! Peter looked around carefully, still out of breath from running so fast! He too saw the linen clothe empty. He saw the napkin that was used to wrap around Jesus head, but wait! The napkin wasn't beside the linen clothe. It was "wrapped together in a place by itself." By now, John came inside the tomb to observe. When he saw, he believed. I don't know what the conservation was between these two men, but surely they were amazed. Surely they had many questions! What do they do now? Scripture says that they went back to their own homes. What might have been the talk in their homes? I know that when the ladies and these two men got together, they knew the truth! Jesus did arise from the dead! But where was He now? What is going to happen next?
After Peter and John left the garden on the empty tomb, Mary was left standing alone at the tomb. She must have went back after Peter and John went to see. Mary was weeping. As she was crying, she stooped down and looked once again into the tomb. What was she looking for? Did she just have to again take another look? Was He really gone? As she gazed into the empty tomb, she saw two angels. They were white. One was sitting at the head of where Jesus was laid and the other at the feet. They spoke to her and said, "Woman, why weepest thou?" She answered with this, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him."
This dear lady was so torn up inside! She loved Jesus and wanted with her heart to anoint Him with the special spices and care for His dead, bruised body. (As I am typing down my feelings here, I am thinking about this deep love Mary really had for Jesus. Why was she so willing to care for His dead body? It was probably starting to get stinky and decayed. This was day three after He died. Would I have been this desperate?) She was crying so hard because now she didn't know where the body was. Jesus was beaten so much and so bad, she probably had a terrible feeling of what those cold hearted men must have done now to her Lord's dead body. But, Jesus showed up!!! After she said that to the angels, she turned herself around and there stood Jesus. Her eyes were still full of tears and she didn't even know it was Jesus right in front of her.
Jesus said to her, "Women, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" Mary thought that this must be the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if thou have borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away." She was serious! She wanted to make sure her Lord's body was properly cared for and buried! I love her determination but if only she would have believed what she was told earlier. Why was she still seeking for the dead body when she was told that He was alive! That's when Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned herself around again and said to Him, "Rabboni." That means Master. Jesus said to her, "Tounch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." She did exactly what Jesus told her to do. She went and told the disciples that she had seen Jesus. She told them what He said to her.
It says in Luke that two of them went to a village called Emmaus. As they walked the dusty roads, Jesus walked up to them but they didn't know it was Him. Jesus asked them why they looked so sad? Cleopas looked at Him and asked, "Are you a stranger from around here? Do you not know what going on in the past few days?" Jesus asked, "What things?" They told Jesus all what had happened! The beatings. The crucifixion. They told Him that they trusted that Jesus would be their new ruler and redeem Israel. And then to top it off, they told Him about what had just happened this morning ... the tomb is empty. They couldn't find His body. They said there were angels involved. The angels said that Jesus was alive. Jesus starting talking to them too and beginning at Moses he talked about the scriptures. When they were almost at the village, they noticed that Jesus was going to keep traveling. They asked Him to stay with them for the evening and He did. That night, when they sat down to eat supper, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened and they realized that this man they have been with all afternoon was Jesus himself!!! When they realized, the Bible says, "He vanished out of their sight." They knew then why their hearts burned as He spoke to them as they journeyed. They got up and walked right back to Jerusalem. They found the eleven disciples and said, "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." They also told them their story of Jesus walking with them and how after He broke the bread, that's when they knew it was Him too!
While they were still talking, Jesus himself stood in the middle of them. He said, "Peace be unto you." They were terrified and thought that He was a ghost. He said to them, "Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." As He spoke to them, He showed them His hands and feet. They still didn't believe and Jesus then said, "Have ye here any meat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb and watched as He ate it. He said, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." Then Jesus opened their understanding. He said, "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name amoung all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnessed of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
He lead them out to Bethany and lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. He ascended before their very eyes into heaven! They worshipped Him and went back to Jerusalem with great joy! They continued to worship in the temple by praising and blessing God!
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It's time for me to stop writing, but there are just a few more events that happened right before Jesus ascended into heaven. Read about it in John 20 & 21.
I was blessed writing all these things done. Maybe you should try it to?
I hope you had a wonderful Easter season and don't forget ...
"JESUS DIED FOR YOU AND ME. HE WAS CRUCIFIED AND DIED TO TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD. HE AROSE ON THE THIRD DAY AND NOW IS SITTING BESIDE GOD IN HEAVEN! BELIEVE ON HIM AND BE SAVED!"
