WASN'T THE TOMB EMPTY?
A Sunday School teacher sent
her young students out into the nearby grassy field with plastic eggs with
instructions to collect something that they thought represented "new
life."
When the children came back
about 15 minutes later, each child had collected either a piece of grass, a
leaf, an insect, etc.. Finally, her attention shifted to one of the shyer
girls of the class. "And what did you bring?" the teacher asked.
Quietly the little girl
handed the teacher her egg. But when the teacher opened the egg, she found
that it was empty. "But didn't you understand what I asked you to
do?" she asked.
"Oh yes," the girl
said with a smile, "but wasn't the tomb empty?"
John 20:1 (NIV) Early on
the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the
tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came
running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said,
"They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they
have put him!" 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4
Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb
first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did
not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the
tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth
that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate
from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,
also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from
Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went
back to their homes, 11 but 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 "Woman," he said, "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 returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, `I am
returning 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.
Who are you looking for in
the church? Who are you looking
for in this service? Who are you
looking for on your job? Who are
you looking for in your house/marriage? Who
are you looking for in your community? Who
are you looking for in your school?
Why are you looking for them? What
is so important that you would be looking for them?
Are you looking for anyone? Are
you still at home and it doesn’t really matter to you if you ever find him?
Are you looking for Jesus? Why
should you look for Him? Why
should you go to pains to get there and try to locate Him?
Why not just don’t worry about it?
Many don’t.
Mary came looking for
Jesus’ body to anoint Him.
Would you look for Jesus for the very first time?
Mary came looking for the
disciples to tell them the story of the
empty tomb. Who do you need to
tell the story of the Lord’s resurrection?
Peter and John came to see
if it was true.
They came looking for Jesus because of what Mary had said.
Would you come to see if it is true?
If it is true would you believe?
Mary took a second look. Would you take another look for the Lord?
He is here because He is risen just as He said.
Jesus said it is me, I am
alive. I am real.
I am the Lord. Would
you go and tell the others that you have seen the Lord?
Mary went again to tell
the disciples that she had seen the
Lord. Would you be willing to
take a risk and tell others that you have seen the Lord?
Mary said that I have seen
the Lord.
What did Jesus say?
He said He is going back to the Father.
He is my Father and your Father. He
is my God and your God. What has
He said to you?
Three Crosses
Three crosses on a lonely
hill,
A thief on either side,
And, in between, the Son of
God …
How wide the gulf—how wide!
Yet one thief spanned it with
the words,
“Oh Lord, remember me”;
The other scoffed and turned
aside
To lost eternity.
Forsaken is the hilltop now,
And all the crosses gone,
But in believing hearts of
men
The center cross lives on.
And still, as when these
sentinels
First met earth’s wondering
view,
The presence of the Lord
divides—
Upon which side are you?
—Helen Franzee Bower