AS HE SAID
Matthew 28:5-8 NKJV
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you."
8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
We can only imagine how the two Marys felt as they went to the tomb of Jesus. I am uncertain if the passed out guards were still lying around, but the huge stone was rolled away and an angel was sitting on it. With a countenance like lightning and blinding white clothing, he had to have been quite a sight. No wonder he starts with do not be afraid.
The angel's message was simple but still resounds through the ages. "He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay."
He is risen, as He said, was a great reminder. Jesus had told His disciples on numerous occasions that He would be rejected and killed, but He would rise from the dead. This may have been one of the key reasons Jesus corrected His disciples for not believing when they received the report of His resurrection. Jesus had said He would rise again, and that is exactly what happened. The angel was given this message, and evidently, God thought it important for the people to know that what Jesus had foretold took place.
And inviting these two Marys to come see the place where the Lord had been lying was significant to them because they were part of the group that saw Jesus lying in the tomb after the crucifixion. They were there when the stone was rolled over the tomb. They were planning to come back not to see if Jesus had risen but to properly prepare His body for burial.
The angel gave these two women the first truly evangelical message. They were to go and tell the disciples that Jesus was risen from the dead. And to tell them where to go meet Him. So they left with fear and great joy. We can only surmise what was going through their hearts and minds. Their minds may have been reeling with what just happened. But their hearts had to be rejoicing as they ran to tell His disciples the good news.
APPLICATION
There are a lot of people making a lot of predictions today. What is appalling to me is the ones who miss it in their projections and never come back to correct or own their mistake.
But Jesus is different. None of His words have failed to come to pass. And that tells me that the things He has spoken that we have not yet seen will happen. "As He said" is a phrase we can incorporate into our lives. Jesus' words and God's inspired words form the bedrock of our beliefs. We are new creations, as He said. We are accepted by God, as He said. We will rule and reign with Him for all eternity as He said. We are being conformed to His image as He said.
Some of the things God has spoken seem so far beyond our ability to grasp. Much as the idea of raising from the dead baffled the disciples. But we can rest on, as He said, today and for eternity.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for the solid hope we have in You and in Your words. Heaven and earth as we know them will pass away, but your words will never pass away.