"Jesus' friends were sad. They would never see their best friend again. How could this happen? Wasn't Jesus the Rescuer? The King God had promised? It wasn't supposed to end like this.
Yes, but whoever said anything about the end?
Just before the sunrise, on the third day, God sent an earthquake - and an angel fell from heaven. When the guards saw the angel, they fell down with fright. The angel rolled the huge stone away, sat on top of it, and waited.
At the first glimmer of dawn, Mary Magdalene and other women headed to the tomb to wash Jesus' body. The early morning sun slanted through the ancient olive trees, drops of dew glittering on leaves and grasses - little tears everywhere. The friends walked quietly along the hilly path, through the olive groves, until they reached the tomb. And immediately noticed something odd - it was wide open.
They peered through the opening into the dark tomb. But wait. Jesus' body was gone!
And something else: a shining man was there, with clothes made from lightning.
'Don't be scared,' the angel said.
But (they couldn't help it) they screamed anyway.
The angel asked them, 'What are you doing here? This is a tomb and tombs are for dead people.'
The women couldn't speak.
'Jesus isn't dead anymore!' he said. 'He's alive again!'
And their hearts leapt. And the angel laughed with such gladness that they felt, for a moment, as if they had woken from a nightmare."
Happy Easter! He is risen!
No comments:
Post a Comment