What Jesus Did : Matthew 28:1-6 - A Great Gift, A New Day

    by Phil Ware

    A Great Gift, A New Day - Matthew 28:1-6

    The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary went to look at the tomb. At that time there was a very strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came from the sky. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then the angel sat on the stone. The angel was shining very bright like lightning. His clothes were white like snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were very afraid of the angel. They shook with fear and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Don't be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, the one that was killed on the cross. But Jesus is not here. He has risen from death, like he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was." (ERV) Full Text

    Tweet

    Key Thought

    "Don't be afraid!" Aren't those beautiful words? Remember what it was like when you were a child and a parent would tell you those words, tuck you into bed, pull the covers up, and kiss you goodnight. Wouldn't it be great if you could hear those words again?
    The message of Jesus' resurrection is this: "Don't be afraid!"
    "Don't be afraid; I've been there and come out on the other side victoriously!"
    "Don't be afraid; the sting has been taken out of death and it cannot defeat you!"
    "Don't be afraid; your life matters and what you do counts!"
    Listen closely and you can hear our Father say, "Don't be afraid; my Son and your older brother Jesus has conquered death. All death can do is bring you home!"
    "Don't be afraid; Jesus has risen from the dead just as he said he would!"


    Today's Prayer

    Get WJD by EMAIL!

    Enter your email address above to subscribe to the email edition of What Jesus Did! Follow along FREE every day as we go through Matthew in a year.
    More Info on Mailing Lists
    Almighty and victorious God, thank you for the victory that is mine in Jesus. Please help me to live a victorious life over sin, over selfishness, and over failure. I pray this not so that my life will be easy, but that you be glorified and Jesus may be known as Lord in the hearts of my friends. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.


    Now you can get Phil's What Jesus Did devotional as a paperback book!

    Today's Verses in Context


    The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary went to look at the tomb. At that time there was a very strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came from the sky. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then the angel sat on the stone. The angel was shining very bright like lightning. His clothes were white like snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were very afraid of the angel. They shook with fear and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Don't be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, the one that was killed on the cross. But Jesus is not here. He has risen from death, like he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. And go quickly and tell his followers. Tell them: 'Jesus has risen from death. He is going into Galilee. He will be there before you. You will see him there.'" Then the angel said, "Now I have told you." So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell his followers what happened. While the women were running to tell the followers, Jesus was standing there before them. Jesus said, "Hello!" The women went to Jesus. They held him at his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to the women, "Don't be afraid. Go and tell my brothers (followers) to go to Galilee. They will see me there." The women went to tell the followers. At the same time, some of the soldiers that 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 much money {to tell a lie}. They said to the soldiers, "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 satisfy him and save you from trouble." So the soldiers kept the money and obeyed thepriests. And that story is still spread among the Jews even today.

    -- Matthew 28:1-15 (ERV)

      URL: http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/1225-wjd.html

    (c)2001-2006, Phil Ware and Heartlight, Inc.

    ©1996-2002, Heartlight, Inc. - http://www.heartlight.org