Two-minute read.
My sixteenth birthday fell on a Friday in September of 1985. Having taken the test during school hours, I remember walking into school. Rushing up to my high school crush’s locker, I proudly showed him my newly acquired piece of freedom. When we have good news, we can’t wait to share it with others.
When Jesus walked out of the tomb, He gave us good news.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, discovered the empty tomb. They got to share the gospel, which means “good news,” first. Running with fear and joy, they ran to tell the disciples. Can you imagine the thoughts running through their mind in those moments?
First, they meet an angel who gives them the world-changing announcement: the grave couldn’t hold Jesus. More than a miracle, the empty grave fulfilled Jesus’s promise “just as he said.” The Savior’s words proved trustworthy, even when hope seemed gone.
Instead of asking the women to blindly believe, the angel asks them to witness the miraculous resurrection of their Savior, grounding their faith in real time and space. Nothing could have shocked the ladies more than the realization that Jesus lived. He had walked out of the tomb and left behind death.
And now that they know, the angel tells them to spread the news. In a culture that devalued women, the Lord trusted them with the most precious message, an unexpected and beautiful detail in a culture that often overlooked them.
When they took off in “fear and joy,” the fear didn’t mean terror, but awe. The two Marys felt overwhelmed with the magnitude of what had happened. Sometimes our most profound encounters with God hold both a sense of wonder and a deep, uncontainable gladness.
Christ’s resurrection created an urgency to share the good news. When something changes everything, you don’t walk, you run.
Reflection:
Has the reality of the resurrection become familiar to you—or does it still move you to awe and joy?
Joy Thought:
The grave couldn’t hold Jesus.
