SUGGESTED SCRIPTURE READING – Mark 16: 1-19.

FOCAL PASSAGE——–8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. 9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping…

15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…

20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. Mark 16: 8-10,15, 20.
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I’m going to approach this study a little differently this week. After you read this first paragraph, I would like for you to stop and think for a moment. I want you to imagine you were there, and that you were one of Jesus’ disciples. It was certainly a traumatic and confusing time for them. They had obeyed His command to “follow Him,” but where was Jesus now? To them, His death was unexplainable. They were so stunned by the shock and defenselessness they felt that, other than John, they abandoned Jesus during the trials and crucifixion, instead gathering together in hiding. It had been only a week before that Jesus entered Jerusalem to cheering crowds as he rode on a donkey, in the same way the ancient kings had. Where were the crowds now? The disciples had left their homes….given up
everything…what would become of them now? * I ask that you stop reading now for a moment and close your eyes. Put yourself there, at the Last Supper…and in the garden as they took Him captive. Would you have acted differently than they did? Would you have run away? Would you have remembered what He told you?
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Now it’s Sunday, three days after Jesus had been crucified. Some of the women who had followed Him have come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, only to find He isn’t there. Only the neatly folded grave cloths used to wrap His body remain. The Gospel of John tells us Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene…Wonder of wonders, He’s Alive! “Mary…go and tell the others!” (John 20:15-17).

Can you imagine how fast you would have run to share this news? I don’t think my feet would have even touched the ground. I can imagine in her excitement she could barely get the words out…But, they didn’t believe her. They were grief stricken and filled with despair. How ironic that the only ones who remembered Jesus’ prediction of His death and resurrection were his enemies…not his friends. (Matthew 27:62-65)

-THE WOMEN DID NOT REMEMBER: Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Mark 16:2-3

-PETER AND JOHN DID NOT REMEMBER: For they still did not understand the Scripture that He must rise from the dead. John 20:9-10

-THOMAS DID NOT REMEMBER: But one of the Twelve, Thomas (called “Twin”), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe!” John 20:24-25

-THE OTHER DISCIPLES DID NOT REMEMBER: After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. Mark 16:12-13

Luke 24 gives us more detail concerning the above story of Jesus walking with two of His disciples and their failure to recognize him. Verse 16 indicates He had a purpose in this. Perhaps they didn’t see Him because they weren’t looking for Him. But Jesus used this time to encourage them, for afterward they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32.

But they were transformed! We only have to read the book of Acts and other New Testament writings to see the miracle of change in the disciples. Encouraged and strengthened by Jesus, they became different men. Tradition and history tell us that 11 of them died Martyr’s deaths. Nothing but the loving touch of our Risen Savior can make such a change.

I have seen many miracles in my life. I see the wonder of nature all around me, I have seen the answer to many prayers and I have witnessed the birth of my daughter. I’ve also seen and marveled at the change in her when she became a mother to our granddaughter. But I have never seen anything like the miracle of the change in a person’s heart when they come to know Jesus.

May I ask you a personal question? Has your heart been truly changed by Jesus? If not, He will change it today if you simply ask Him. If He has, have you told anyone of the difference Jesus has made in your life? That was the last commandment Jesus gave His disciples…”tell everyone!”

As we enjoy this wonderful Easter weekend, the celebration of our risen Savior, let us be reminded of the sacrifice He made for us. May we be forever grateful…and let us run with the swiftness of feet that Mary and the others must have had after they saw the resurrected Christ. Let’s share the hope that is within us! Let’s tell everyone!

HE IS RISEN!

SUGGESTED SCRIPTURE READING- Mark 14:53-65

FOCAL PASSAGE——–
55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. 57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree. 60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:55-62
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The Gospel of Matthew tells us that the “high priest” in view here was Caiaphas, and he seems to be the person most responsible for the plot to do away with Jesus. Everything about this trial was bogus. For one thing, the Sanhedrin, (the ancient Jewish court system; the supreme religious body in the land of Israel) always met in the daytime as required by Jewish law. This meeting held before dawn was unscheduled. Furthermore, it took place on a Feast day. Normally they did not conduct meetings on such days, and they never passed sentence on an accused capital offender until the day after his trial…They chose to make an exception for Jesus. They wanted to turn Jesus over to Pilate for a hasty trial before public sentiment had a chance to build in His favor.

Even though this hearing took place at night, they managed to find two witnesses to testify against Jesus. They had been carefully planning their case for the prosecution. Yet even though they planted witnesses, and falsely accused Him, their testimonies could not agree…another requirement of Jewish law.

Jesus had remained silent through the questioning. He did not need to reply. Everyone knew that no offense had been proved against Him, and Caiaphas himself was painfully aware of this. So he asked again, “Are you the Messiah…?” There may have been other questions and other answers, as Matthew records a different response to one of these questions. But here Jesus gives an answer that leaves no doubt of His deity. “I Am”.

These are the same words used by God when Moses asks what he should tell the Israelites when they asked who sent him:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14

John also records these words in his Gospel account of the soldiers coming for Jesus in the Garden. When they said they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth.

“When Jesus said, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” John 18:6.

They were powerless before, and they were powerless now as He stood before them. All night long, the preliminary investigation had gone forward, and nothing had come of it. And if He had not answered, they would have had no case. This was the question which the Pharisees had so long attempted to force Jesus to answer; but until this hour, He had not…it had not been time…now it was. The accusations they had made in the past about healing on the Sabbath and casting out demons had long ago been answered. This one charge alone, That He claimed to be God, was all they had. AND THEY HAD GOD’S PERMISSION TO USE IT…JESUS PROMPTLY GAVE IT TO THEM!

Max Lucado said it well in the Title of a book he wrote a few years back; “HE CHOSE THE NAILS”. How can we do anything else but choose to serve Him?