Tuesday, April 19, 2011

April 20, 2011

"So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples." Matthew 28:8

These  women loved Jesus passionately and arose before sunrise in order to get to the tomb to prepare their Lord's body. I'm sure they were filled with grief and some dread as they prepared themselves to see His badly battered and bloody corpse. The horrible events of a few days ago seemed like a terrible nightmare but one from which they could not awake. But now, on this chilly morning as they hurried through the darkness to the tomb they must have been trying to prepare themselves mentaly and emotionally for the jarring reality of a cold, dead, and badly disfigured body.

While they were still trying to prepare themselves for what they thought they would see, upon arriving at the tomb they saw something they were totally unprepared for - the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty and a angel appeared to explain why!

"Why do you seek the living among the dead?", the angel asked.

And the discovery they made that morning has changed the course of history as well as the changing the trajectory of eternity! About the time day was dawning it was dawning on these women what had happened! Jesus was alive! He had risen from the dead! With the breaking day, they rushed back to break the joyous news to the rest of His followers!

Can you imagine the joy? As the Gospel records, "They were filled with joy."

As I read this story this evening and tried to imagine how these women must have felt as they discovered the good news of the resurrection, I could not help but wonder, "Where is the joy?"

Is the resurrection any less significant today than it was then? No!

So, where is the joy?

Is Jesus any less alive today than He was then? No!

So, where is the joy?

Sunday after Sunday we come to our churches to worship and celebrate that Jesus is risen from the dead!

So, where is the joy?

How can we be so somber about something so significant as a Risen Savior?

Where is the joy?

Oh that we could celebrate and worship with joy like this:

                                         http://youtu.be/8KX2-J6uS-o

So, where's YOUR joy?