John 20
The Empty Tomb
1 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.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
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.
You are worth dieing for, that’s how much you are worth!
Friends, He is alive! He is risen! Jesus took all of our sins, yours and mine, the sins that condemn us to hell, and bore them on the Cross in our place. He died, and with Him died our sins. Then He rose to life, and offers to welcome us to eternity in heaven, simply for accepting what He did on that Cross for us, admitting we are sinners, and asking Him to be Lord of our life.
But he will not force you. You must decide. Just as one can choose to not open a present freely given, so to can you choose not to accept the salvation Jesus offers. To do so is to choose separation from Him eternally in Hell.
If you already know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I rejoice with you on this Easter Sunday. If you have not asked Jesus to to be Lord of your life, to accept the free gift of salvation, I urge you to do so. The reason Jesus died on the Cross was because you and I are not capable of paying the debt caused by our sin. No amount of good deeds, religious living, or adherence to laws or moral codes will do. Jesus came to die on the Cross, to pay the price for your sins. Do not reject this precious gift, friend. Waiting until you stand before God one day is too late.
Jesus died for you. Rejoice, He is risen!