A New Day for Nobodies
Opening Prayer
Take a moment to share your feelings of weakness with God and then to reflect on your faith in his power.
Read John 20:1-10
[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 came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, [7] as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, 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.) [10] Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What do you think the "other disciple" believed (8)?After Jesus’ “rest” in the tomb on Day 7 (19:41,42) we read today of a startling new Day 1 (20:1). God has begun a new week’s “work” with the resurrection of his Son! Small wonder the minds of the disciples were overstretched by the enormity of these events (9). The Easter story is a mixture of human weakness contrasted with God’s power–his “incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:19). But notice the “ordinariness” of the first characters drawn into this cosmic drama: Mary, a woman “with a past;” Peter, who has recently denied his Lord; and an unnamed disciple, almost certainly John himself (1,2). Like the ragbag of anonymous outsiders drawn to witness the birth of the King in Bethlehem, the people drawn to witness history’s hinge–when God’s new creation day dawned–are encouragingly ordinary! The message is clear. God’s world-changing new day is for ordinary, everyday, messed-up, failing, anonymous lovers of Jesus who are invited to the empty tomb, to experience its joy and share its message. Come on in: you are welcome! Join the celebration!
Apply
Have you ever imagined you’re not of much interest to God? Thank him that Easter is for everyone–including you!
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I praise You for the wonder of this incredible Resurrection Day. I know it shows Your love for me, too!
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