It was early in the morning when the women went to the tomb. In their grief they didn’t know what else to do. The one they had believed to be the Messiah had been brutally tortured to death on a Roman cross. The one whom they had followed for three years, their teacher and friend, was dead. They didn’t understand. When they arrived, they found that the huge stone which had covered the tomb’s entrance was rolled away, and only the linen grave clothes which had wrapped his body, remained on the now-vacant slab. Their grief and bewilderment deepened. As Luke records it, suddenly there appeared to them two men dressed in shining garments, within the tomb, saying, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen,” Luke 24:5-6. They were struck with awe and amazement. Another of their group, Mary Magdalene, was told as Mark records it, “Go and tell His disciple,” Mark 16:7. And the women did just that.
They went and they told. They told the other disciples that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, that the tomb was empty, and that he had risen from the dead. To their chagrin, their words were met with unbelief. Both Mark and Luke record that no one believed the women. Luke 24:10-11 states, “It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.” The women were given the privilege of being the first to hear the good news that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. Then they obeyed the angel’s instruction to go tell the others that he had risen. They were obedient to the calling to tell others about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In spite of the initial unbelief of their friends, they told. Eventually, the men came to faith, as the Lord appeared to them and opened their understanding of the Scriptures.
How about you? Perhaps you were the first one to the empty tomb, so to speak. The first one to come to faith. The first believer in your immediate family, your extended family, or another sphere of influence in your life? If so, do what the women did on that first Easter morning. Go and tell them that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Don’t worry about the reaction you receive, simply tell them the good news. Let the Holy Spirit, through your prayers, bring them spiritual understanding in His timing. It is your job to tell them, it is his job to open their hearts to the message. Be like the women who were first at the tomb and tell them!
Author Janet D. Perrin has recently published her first book, God Speaks: The Guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts and Today which is available at www.amazon.com/author/janetdperrin. This article is an excerpt from her upcoming book A Slice of Life for Women: Recipes for Christian Growth.
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