Resurrection Day!, by The Life & Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth


 The next day after the Sabbath day (Mark 16:1), suddenly an angel of
the Lord came from the sky, and there was a huge earthquake. The angel
went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he
sat on top of the stone. The angel was shining as bright as lightning.
His clothes were as white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were
very afraid of the angel. They shook with fear and then became like
dead men (Matthew 28:2-4).

Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some
sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus' body. Very early on that day,
the first day of the week, the women were going to the tomb. It was
very early after sunrise. The women said to each other, "There is a
large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone
for us?" Then the women looked and saw that the stone was moved. The
stone was very large, but it was moved away from the entrance (Mark
16:1-4.

They went in, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. They
did not understand this. While they were wondering about it, two men in
shining clothes stood beside them. The women were very afraid. They
bowed down with their faces to the ground (Luke 24:3-5). But the man
said, "Don't be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, the
one who was killed on a cross" (Mark 16:6).

The men said to them, "Why are you looking for a living person here?
This is a place for dead people (Luke 24:5). He has risen from death!
He is not here. Look, here is the place they put him when he was dead (Mark
16:6). Jesus is not here. He has risen from death. Do you remember what
he said in Galilee? He said the Son of Man must be handed over to the
control of sinful men, be killed on a cross, and rise from death on the
third day (Luke 24:6-7). "Now go and tell his followers. And be sure to
tell Peter. Tell them, 'Jesus is going into Galilee and will be there
before you come. You will see him there, as he told you before'" (Mark
16:7).

Then the women remembered what Jesus had said (Luke 24:8).

So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were
also very happy. They ran to tell his followers what happened (Matthew
28:8). These women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of
James, and some others. They told the apostles everything that
happened. But the apostles did not believe what they said. It sounded
like nonsense (Luke 24:10-12.

But Peter and the other follower started going to the tomb. They were
both running, but the other follower ran faster than Peter and reached
the tomb first. He bent down and looked in. He saw the pieces of linen
cloth lying there, but he did not go in.

When Simon Peter finally reached the tomb, he went in and saw the
pieces of linen lying there. He also saw the cloth that had been around
Jesus' head. It was folded up and laid in a different place from the
pieces of linen. Then the other follower went in-the one who had
reached the tomb first. He saw what had happened and believed. (These
followers did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must
rise from death.) Then the followers went back home.

But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. While she was crying, she bent
down and looked inside the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white
sitting where Jesus' body had been. One was sitting where the head had
been; the other was sitting where the feet had been. The angels asked
Mary, "Woman, why are you crying?"

Mary answered, "They took away the body of my Lord, and I don't know
where they put him." When Mary said this, she turned around and saw
Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus. He asked
her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?"

She thought that this was the man who takes care of the garden. So she
said to him, "Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him. I
will go and get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and said in Aramaic, "Rabboni." (This means
"Teacher.")

Jesus said to her, "You don't need to hold on to me! I have not yet
gone back up to the Father. But go to my followers and tell them this:
'I am going back to my Father and your Father. I am going back to my
God and your God.'"

Mary Magdalene went to the followers and told them, "I saw the Lord!"
And she told them what he had said to her (John 20:3-18).

Suddenly, Jesus was there in front of them. He said, "Hello!" The women
went to him and, holding on to his feet, worshiped him. Then Jesus said
to them, "Don't be afraid. Go tell my followers to go to Galilee. They
will see me there."

He is not here, he is risen just as he said!

The women went to tell the followers. At the same time, some of the
soldiers who were guarding the tomb went into the city. They went to
tell the leading priests everything that happened. Then the priests met
with the older Jewish leaders and made a plan. They paid the soldiers a
lot of money and said to them, "Tell the people that Jesus' followers
came during the night and stole the body while you were sleeping. If
the governor hears about this, we will talk to him and keep you out of
trouble." So the soldiers kept the money and obeyed the priests. And
that story is still spread among the Jews even today (Matthew 28:9-15).

That same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a town named
Emmaus. It is about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking about
everything that had happened. While they were talking, discussing these
things, Jesus himself came near and walked with them. (But the two men
were not allowed to recognize Jesus.) He asked them, "What's this I
hear you discussing with each other as you walk?" The two men stopped,
their faces looking very sad. The one named Cleopas said, "You must be
the only person in Jerusalem who doesn't know what has just happened
there."

Jesus said, "What are you talking about?"

They said, "It's about Jesus, the one from Nazareth. To God and to all
the people he was a great prophet. He said and did many powerful
things. But our leaders and the leading priests handed him over to be
judged and killed. They nailed him to a cross. We were hoping that he
would be the one to free Israel. But then all this happened. "And now
something else: It has been three days since he was killed, but today
some of our women told us an amazing thing. Early this morning they
went to the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid. But they did not
find his body there. They came and told us they had seen some angels in
a vision. The angels told them Jesus was alive! So some of our group
went to the tomb too. It was just like the women said. They saw the
tomb, but they did not see Jesus."

Then Jesus said to the two men, "You are foolish and slow to realize
what is true. You should believe everything the prophets said. The
prophets said the Messiah must suffer these things before he begins his
time of glory." Then he began to explain everything that had been
written about himself in the Scriptures. He started with the books of
Moses and then he talked about what the prophets had said about him.

They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he did not
plan to stop there. But they wanted him to stay. They begged him, "Stay
with us. It's almost night. There's hardly any daylight left." So he
went in to stay with them.

Joining them at the supper table, Jesus took some bread and gave
thanks. Then he broke some off and gave it to them. Just then the men
were allowed to recognize him. But when they saw who he was, he
disappeared. They said to each other, "When he talked to us on the
road, it felt like a fire burning in us. How exciting it was when he
explained to us the true meaning of the Scriptures!"

So the two men got up then and went back to Jerusalem. There they found
the followers of Jesus meeting together. The eleven apostles and the
people with them said, "The Lord really has risen from death! He
appeared to Simon."

Then the two men told what had happened on the road. They talked about
how they recognized Jesus when he shared the bread with them (Luke
24:13-35).