Christ Church Daily Devotion April 2 2024

The transcription is a daily devotion for April 2nd, 2024, from Christchurch. It discusses the story of Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James, and Salome going to anoint Jesus' body at the tomb. They find the stone rolled away and a young man in a white robe inside. The angel tells them that Jesus is risen, and it was his physical body that rose from the dead. The angel instructs them to go and tell the disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee. The devotion emphasizes the accessibility of Jesus to individuals and encourages personal worship. Welcome to Christchurch's Daily Devotion for April 2nd, 2024. Today we will be reading from Mark, chapter 16, verses 1 through 8. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb. And they asked each other, But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side. And they were alarmed. And Peter, he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. The words of the angel to these women contained the answer to all the skepticism of over twenty centuries. For the angel said some things to them that answer most of the claims that have ever been raised in questioning the actuality of the resurrection. The first thing the angel said was, That whole question is answered here by the angel. He says to the women, This very same Jesus, the one you knew from Nazareth, the Jesus who was crucified, whom you saw on the cross with the nails in his hands, and the blood running down his side, that same one is risen from the dead. And he said to them, That is, he is not only risen, he is not here. And in those words, he makes clear that though Jesus is risen, he is nevertheless a real tie with our humanity. He is not just a spirit. This is not a spiritual resurrection, but a bodily resurrection. It was the body of Jesus that rose from the dead. There are cults today who claim that what happened was that the spirit of Jesus rose, and he now lives spiritually only. But the Bible consistently defends the proposition that it was the dead body that was put into the grave, which also rose from the dead. He is not here. He is a person, yet a human person with a human body. Changed, yes, but still human. And in that human body, he rose from the dead. The third thing, the angel says, is put in these extraordinary words that only Mark records. But go, tell the disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you into Galilee. This is a wonderful touch. What a gentle, tender word that is. The last time we saw Peter in the gospel account, he was standing in the courtyard of the high priest during the trial of Jesus. And a little maiden kept following him around saying, I know you. You were with him, weren't you? Peter kept denying it. He went out into the darkness of the night, weeping bitterly. What a tender thing it is for the angel to say to these women, go and tell the disciples and Peter that he goes before you to Galilee. It puts him right back into the apostolic band. That says that Jesus is available to individuals, not just to the crowd at large, not just to the world in general or the church, but to you. Put your own name in there. This accessibility to individuals has been the hallmark of Christianity ever since. Each one of us can know him personally, intimately, not just as a figure of history, nor as a coming king, nor in a general sense, as we know about the president of the United States. But in that close, personal, real conscious sense of knowing that we share in the most intimate human communion. Your personal worship option today is, Lord Jesus, thank you that you are indeed what you promised to be, a living Lord, and that you can enter my life and begin to bring me out of despair into hope, out of death into resurrection. Amen.