As I first read through the passage, there was one thing that stood out to me It was contained in verses 18-19:
“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!”
Now I might be wrong, but if Mary came and told the disciples that she has seen the Lord, shouldn’t the disciples be more excited and not in fear in their homes. It wasn’t until Jesus came to them, and met them did the disciples change their attitude.
I noticed the same thing in John 1 when Andrew, Simon, Philip and Nathanael were told about Jesus for the first time, they didn’t respond or believe until they encountered Jesus in a personal way. That was when their lives were transformed.
Now I am sure we’re reading this thinking, and praying for our friends and family to encounter Jesus in a personal way, especially people we’re inviting out this Sunday. This is important and I can’t wait to hear how God moves this weekend!
But I was convicted that I need to take a step back and encounter Jesus in a personal way again. Somewhere along the way, it’s easy to get focused on other people so much, that we fail to remember that we need to encounter and reencounter Jesus personally every day.
My prayer, first for myself, and then for each of us is that we will take the time this Passion weekend, and even every day afterwards to encounter the Risen Christ again personally. Let Him touch our lives again and again so that we can be like Mary and run around sharing that ‘He is Risen!’ I pray you all have a great Easter and can’t wait to hear testimonies of what Jesus has done and continues to do in the lives of people!
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