And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. – Matthew 28:2-9
There are many lessons to be learned from the passage of Scripture, but I was touched by the actions of the women who went to the tomb after Jesus was crucified; they were Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Three things in particular spoke to my heart.
They sought Jesus early, in the dawn of the day (vs. 2).
This was just a simple reminder to me that it is important in my busy schedule to seek God early each day, or I will not seek Him at all! We must never get too busy to read God’s Word and talk with Him in prayer EVERY day. That is when our minds are fresh, clear, and ready to learn from Him.
They were told to go quickly and tell the disciples that He had risen (vs.7).
So many times we are slow to do what God tells us to do. He tells us to witness by telling others of salvation, but we often drag our feet, thinking, “Oh, geez. It’s time to go soul winning again!” I know, especially after a long week at work, that it can be difficult to get up on Saturday to go tell others about Jesus, but we need to remember that this is more important than anything else we do in life. We need to be quick and consistent in our witness for God in every moment of our lives.
I was reminded of this when we had a car accident in Michigan in 2014 during our Thanksgiving break. Three men stopped to help us all get out of our van, and the furthest thing from my mind was to tell them about Jesus; however, my daughter, Sara, was prepared. Although we had just endured a horrific experience, Sara took the time to give each one of those men a Gospel tract. Life is too short NOT to be sharing Jesus with others, no matter what the situation!
They encountered Jesus along the way (vs. 9).
This reminds me to be mindful of God’s presence as I serve Him. If I am not, I will miss the many blessings and little miracles that happen along the way.
I remember when we held the Christmas banquet for our small congregation in Georgia. It was December of 2014. We all went to a Colombian restaurant to eat. Everyone knew that there would be a cost for the meal, and although many would be able to pay in full, we had others who would not be able to do so. Regardless, we took everyone by faith and were prepared to pay, if needed, for those who could not afford their meals. When we were almost finished with our meals and fellowship, the waitress came to tally up the “damages.” Before she could do this, a gentleman who was not part of our group but was dining in the other part of the restaurant called her out of the room. We thought this was strange but did not pay any attention to it. The waitress soon returned to calculate our bills, and then left. Shortly after, my husband left the table to find out the total cost for the meals for everyone. When he returned, he said, “Attention, everyone! Something wonderful has just happened. The man who came in here a moment ago was so impressed with our church that he has paid our bills in full! We only need to leave the tip!” Everyone was so surprised by this that no one said or did anything for a couple of seconds. Then everyone applauded and praised the Lord!
This was a sweet reminder from God as He showed us that serving Him is not in vain! It does not matter how big or small the work is; God sees our efforts and will show us He cares through little miracles such as this!
Let me encourage us to remember that now, and always, God is good to His children. Let us just keep seeking Him early and telling others about Him. When we do this, we will see His hand moving in the midst of everything we do!
by April Hernandez
