An Empty Tomb

Reading from the Book of John 20:11-18

^{John 20:11} 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") ¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. 

The tomb where they laid His body is empty. The stone has been rolled away. The Son of Man has ascended and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. This we know. This we believe. It is to this great truth that we bear witness.

We can believe this truth. This truth is the most important of all truths.Our mission will not be completed until Jesus Himself returns and reigns in righteousness and justice. Yet we undertake this mission with a sense of that same invincible hope that inspired those who peered with amazement into an empty tomb, saw the risen Savior face to face, and then proceeded to turn their world upright.

I pray that you and your family will be especially blessed this resurrection Sunday, as I say to you: He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!  Hallelujah!