Thursday, April 11, 2024
After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men. The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.” Matthew 28:1-7
Come and See – Go and Tell
The last few days had been so hard. We cannot imagine the trauma and pain of watching someone you love go through what they had witnessed Jesus experiencing before his death. Their hearts were broken. They were tired from little, or no sleep and they were emotionally exhausted. On top of the fact that they had seen the brutal treatment of Jesus, he hadn’t even been properly anointed for burial because of the rush to get it done before the sabbath. So these two Mary’s had prepared spices and came on the third day to finish the preparation of Jesus’ body.
When they got there, instead of finding the body of Jesus as they expected, they found an empty grave. The stone had been rolled away and an angel sat on top of the stone. The guards were so afraid they became like dead men. The angel spoke to the women, first telling them not to be afraid. He told them that he knew why they were there and that the Jesus they were looking for was not there. The tomb was empty, and they were invited in to see with their own eyes.
The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘
These two women were the first ones to witness that Jesus rose from the dead. Even though they may have heard him say he would rise again on the third day, they did not come expecting to find an empty tomb. They came expecting to anoint his body. Instead, they received the greatest invitation of all - to come and see and go and tell.
The stone was not rolled away so Jesus could come out of the grave. He is God – he didn’t need help getting out. The stone was rolled away so they could go in and see that he was not there. They saw his body laid in that tomb and now there was no question that he was not there any longer. The angel told them to go and tell, to be the very first messengers of the Good News. Their eye-witness account gave them solid ground to stand on when they told others.
“One eye-witness is better than twenty ear-witnesses; men will believe what you have seen if they do not believe what you have heard.” (Spurgeon)
The invitation that these women received is the invitation for all of us. Come and see… go and tell. It isn’t just the message of Easter; it is the eternity long herald of all believers. He is not dead. He rose from the dead and defeated sin, death, and hell, providing us the perfect atonement from our sin. He justified us before God and bought our place in eternity if we repent and believe. Although many of us have never stood in what is believed to be Christ’s tomb, we have seen the goodness of our risen Savior in our own lives. It is this testimony that we are to share, to go and tell.
