Sunday, April 12, 2020
Scripture – John 20: 1-16 (NIV)
The Empty Tomb
- Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dar, Mary Magdelene 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 came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7. as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in it’s place, 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.The the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11. Now 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 He asked her, “Woman, 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”).
The Day of Victory
by Lt. Colonel Diane O’Brien
The sin-filled journey of God’s people had started in a garden. Most
The sin-filled journey of God’s people had started in a garden. Most commentators understand that the encounter of failure recorded in Genesis 3:8 took place as the sun set, in the cool of the evening. History moved through all those years, to this scene just before daybreak, in the dark, tomb-filled garden.
As they went to the tomb, the grief of the little group matched the darkness of the night. Even though the sky lightened, confusion remained. The stone was rolled away. Why was there was no body to be anointed? Then Mary was left alone in the garden with her aching sorrow.
There is no report of the sky getting lighter as the dawn approached. There is no recognition of the moment the sun burst over the horizon. But just maybe it was as Jesus spoke her name to the weeping Mary. Suddenly The Truth dawned on her. Here was Jesus, the Conqueror, with resurrection life, beside her.
In the fulness of time, the Risen Son, the Light of the World, has become the way to full restoration of fellowship with God for anyone who will listen as his gentle voice calls their name. In my soul an Easter morning! Hallelujah!
Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Salvation Army Songbook 218
1.
Christ the Lord is risen today,
Hallelujah!
Sons of men and angels say:
Hallelujah!
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Hallelujah!
Sing, ye Heavens; thou earth, reply:
Hallelujah!
2.
Love’s redeeming work is done;
Fought the fight, the battle won;
Lo! the sun’s eclipse is o’er,
Lo! He sets in blood no more.
3.
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal,
Christ hath burst the gates of Hell;
Death in vain forbids His rise;
Christ hath opened Paradise.
4.
Lives again our glorious king;
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Once He died our souls to save;
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave?
5.
Soar we now where Christ has led,
Following our exalted Head;
Made like Him, like Him we rise,
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
Charles Wesley
I’ve Just Seen Jesus
Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder invites you to join him for worship on Easter Sunday at 7:00pm PDT.
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