Holy Week Devotional: Day 8
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).
Read Luke 24:1–12
After a day of mourning, Jesus’s followers received a miraculous message of hope.
The women went to the tomb early in the morning to anoint Jesus’s body, but He wasn’t there. Expecting to find the dead body of their beloved rabbi, instead they found an empty tomb. They were surprised, perplexed, confused. They didn’t understand. Had someone taken His body? Why would someone do that? But before they could figure it out, two angels appeared.
“He is risen!”
He is not dead, He is alive!
A lot would happen over the next few months. After His resurrection, Jesus would spend some time teaching them all about the kingdom, and they would finally understand it. The Holy Spirit would come and give them wisdom, boldness, and power. The disciples would start a whole new movement that would change the world forever.
But it all started here, in this moment. At the resurrection. With these three little words—“He is Risen!”
The resurrection of Christ changes everything. If Christ was not raised, then our faith is useless (1 Corinthians 15:14–17). If Christ was not raised, the cross was a meaningless tragedy. But as Adrian Warnock wrote, “The resurrection changed the cross from a tragedy into a triumph.”[1]
This is why we celebrate today. Jesus changed everything. He changed tragedy into triumph. He brought us from death to life. He changed our mourning into dancing and our tears into joy. Because “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” we will be raised too (1 Corinthians 15:20).
“The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immorality . . .
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death is your sting? . . .
Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”
(1 Corinthians 15:53–57, selected verses).
PRAYER: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Spiritual Discipline Practice: Celebration
Join your church family or multiple church families across the world through online services to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord today. Celebrate at home with your family throughout the day. For no matter how bleak our world may look at the moment, we have this incredible hope in the promises of God because of the resurrection. Our hope is not in the world; our hope is in heaven.
[1] Adrian Warnock, Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010).