Key Thought

They made a plan! We've heard this before. They had been planning for a long time how they would get rid of Jesus. When Judas accepted their deal, they thought they had this "Jesus Problem" figured out. Little did they know that their plan was going to put them in opposition to God. Little did they know that their plans would not only furnish the early disciples -- and us -- a Savior, but also furnish them the fire to spread their message all over the world. But for now, they needed a plan because they had been defeated at their execution of Jesus. He arose from the grave! It was a grave guarded by Roman soldiers. They had even asked for the soldiers to guard the tomb to keep anything from happening to the body. But when you oppose God and his work, your plans are doomed to fail. We are the living proof of their failure and the failure of generations like them. Jesus' followers still know that he is the Living Lord of all creation and no plan can extinguish that faith.

Today's Prayer

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)

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