Joshua 1-3 Mark 16

“But the man said, ‘Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who has been crucified. He has risen from the dead; he is not here. Look, here is the place they laid him.’” (Mark 16:6 NCV)

It was women that showed up at the tomb that Sunday. They brought the spices to anoint Jesus’s body with them. They knew that the stone had to be rolled away so they could get into the tomb to use those spices. I guess they were hoping that the Roman guards might be sympathetic and help. Maybe they expected a gardener to push the stone away. Whatever their expectations were, they were shattered in a good way when they discovered that not only was the stone rolled away, the tomb was empty. Sure, they were afraid at first. That’s when this guy, dressed in a white robe told them that Jesus had risen, and He’d soon be showing Himself to all the disciples. It’s interesting that the news left them more perplexed and fearful. According to this account, they didn’t tell anyone. According to other accounts, they told people that someone had stolen Jesus’s body.

A Contemporary Christian song describes this situation well: “The tomb where soldiers watched in vain, Was borrowed for three days, His body there would not remain, Our God has robbed the grave, Our God has robbed the grave.” (Resurrecting by Elevation Worship) The greatest fear of so many people is death. The resurrection of Jesus proves that we need not fear death, if we are united with God through the grace of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins, and He rose from the dead to take away the power of death; death that was introduced into the world by sin. The greatest enemy to humanity is death. For those who are in Christ Jesus, death is nothing to fear. Our God has robbed the grave and it no longer has any power over us.

Lord, remind me of Your power over death whenever I begin to worry. Let me live each day powered by Your resurrection.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.