ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (MARCH 11, 2012)

A Dazzling Moment
Luke 24:1-11

"In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground; but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!'"
(LUKE 24:5-6)
Before they had time to think, the women at the tomb felt a violent earthquake. The boulder to the entrance moved, revealing nothing inside. The guards froze like dead men. Angels appeared, dazzling and glorious. Men in biblical history would have fallen prostrate at such a visitation; these Jewish women stood there trembling. Luke says they bowed their faces. After all, no one could endure the presence of a supernatural being! When they caught their breath, Mary, Joanna and the others did another remarkable thing: they listened.
"Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again'" (v. 6).
They'd watched their Messiah die. Now the terrified women were being commissioned to go and tell their brothers that someone who was dead is not dead any longer! Amazingly, they went! The message they carried is the same one you and I joyfully take today to those in our hurting, burdened world.
INSIGHT
IN THE MIDST OF MANY FRIGHTENING CHALLENGES, THE WOMEN OBEYED. HOW DOES THEIR WITNESS SPEAK TO YOU NOW?
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Joshua 5-6
Psalm 99
Acts 23

Luke 24:1-11
The Resurrection
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ " 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

THE EMPTY TOMB
It was the last thing anyone expected and their first reaction was not joy, but bewilderment. Where was Jesus? The answer is the best news the world has ever received!