Message from the Empty Tomb

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead.” (Matthew 28:6-7)
Mary Magdalene and the other women with her had a major worry in their sorrowful state, as they went to the grave of Jesus Christ with the spices which they had prepared for the body. Their anxiety was the person that would help them roll the big stone that had been placed on Jesus’ grave so they could reach the body and apply the spices. They were sorrowful because they had lost a Friend, someone they loved, their teacher and their hope. With Jesus with them, they lacked nothing as He had supernatural power to feed them, heal them, deliver them from death and promised them everlasting life where they would rule with Him in the Kingdom of God. It must have been with so much bewilderment as they watched from a distance Jesus being humiliated and tortured, seemingly defenceless, sometimes speechless and finally killed in a very cruel manner.
One can picture what else could have been going through their mind other than the stone, as they approached the sepulchre where Jesus body was laid. They might have wondered how they could withstand seeing the lifeless and battered body of their beloved master and teacher. They might also have felt disappointed like the disciples of Jesus Christ that were on their way to Emmaus, who ‘had hoped that He (Jesus) was the one who was going to redeem Israel’ (Luke 25:21).  With His death all that ‘dream’  was over and they were at the end of the road or so it seemed.
Many times we are faced with this type of feeling, when everything we have worked for and hoped for appears to be collapsing before our very eyes: The beautiful marriage we thought we had with dreams of a happy home and lovely children turning sour with the lovely spouse we thought we had becoming our worse enemy or the children we hoped for not forthcoming and the doctors are saying they may never come; or that lucrative business opportunity that we had mortgaged all our property for is now going bad with the possibility of our losing everything; or that dream of finishing school, getting a good job and getting married remaining a dream as the jobs are nowhere and spouses are even farther away. It could be the desire to serve God and make heaven turning to something else as in an attempt to cover a ‘little sin’ we have gone deeper into ‘bigger sins’ and a return to normalcy appears impossible.
The message from the grave delivered by the angels from The Empty Tomb where Jesus once laid was very clear and very applicable to your situation today: (1) Do not be afraid, I know what you seek; (2) What you seek is not here, Jesus has risen and is alive; (3) Go quickly and tell others.
Beloved, are you still afraid of that situation or have you given it up as dead. The message from the tomb is saying the situation is very much alive. The power that raised Jesus Christ is available to you and will spring a surprise for you.   Do not be afraid God knows what you are looking for and will make it available to you. Jesus says in Matthew 6:32-33 “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Jesus lives and all authority in heaven and on earth are with Him and has promised to be with us till the end of time (Matthew 28:18-20), so go quickly and tell others.
Have a joyful week as you confidently trust in the power that opened the grave and devested it of its Captive!

 Your brother, Vicar & Archdeacon
Igein Isemede