THE TOMB IS EMPTY!  

    “HE IS NOT HERE!  HE HAS RISEN!”

These words were spoken to the women who came to anoint the body of Jesus in Matthew, Mark and Luke. 
(Read the accounts in Matthew 28: 1-8, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24: 1-9)

Matthew tells us,
“He is not here for He has risen, as He said…”  Matthew 28:6

Mark 16:6-7 says,
“But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here…But go tell His disciples--and Peter--that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.’”  
(Notice, Jesus had told them He was going to go before them to Galilee.)

Luke 24:6-7,
“He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

Matthew and Mark give us Jesus’ words concerning this.
“But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”  Matthew 26:32
And,
“But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”  Mark 14:28

The account in Luke 24 goes on to say,
“And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest…telling these things to the apostles.”  Vs. 8-9
And WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE to this wonderful news?
“And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.”  Vs.11

Mark 16;11 tells us,
“And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her (Mary Magdalene), they did not believe.”

Some two thousand years later is this not the world’s response to the news that Jesus died for sin, was raised from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?

Amazing grace has been bestowed on those who believe; hearts made ready to receive the Good News and to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Jesus our Lord.
“By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”  Ephesians 2:8

Man says, ‘seeing is believing’,  But God’s way is to believe and you will come to know.  This is our heart’s desire, to KNOW Christ Jesus our Lord in a greater measure.  Therefore let us take to heart the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8 that we may come into a greater knowledge of the things of God.
“Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it is opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”

How gracious and loving is our God who has provided the Way of Life!
As we worship Him this day let us give Him all honor, praise and glory!  Amen