Living In A New Reality
John 20:1-18
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 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.
This Sunday’s service can be viewed on our Facebook page @ March 31, 2024
Hello NewDay Brothers and Sisters,
As I write this to you, we are just a few days away from Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We will gather together with our brothers and sisters at Salem Road Covenant Church to remember with gratitude and solemnity Jesus' final week on this earth, and the tremendous price He paid on our behalf. My prayers for us all is that we don't skip over Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, to get to the joy of Easter Sunday.
In Hebrews 12:2-3, we are encouraged by this word from the author about Jesus, and why He did what He did, so we can have a new reality: "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
When something important or significant happens in our lives, and we are on the other side of it, we often will wonder, "Did ______ really happen?" A new reality can be a difficult thing to accept when there has been some major change or loss that has occurred in our lives. I believe most of us have thought that in the past 4 years, when we consider all we have been through collectively in our world.
Praise God, the new reality we get to live into each day as Easter people is that Jesus did not stay dead! His resurrection ushered in a new reality that defines us as Jesus' people, gives us eternal life, and completely turns the old reality that was dominated by sin and death on its head. This Sunday, we will turn our hearts and minds to the new reality we can have each and every day, when we accept Jesus' free gift of salvation, through His death on the Cross, and the freedom from eternal separation from God, and a life with Him, through the empty tomb.
We praise a Risen Savior, Indeed!
Pastor Kari