I can think of nothing more fitting to write about than these scriptures today.


MATTHEW 28:1-8
"1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you."
8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."

MARK 15:1-8
"1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
3 And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back-it was very large.
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
6 And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

LUKE 24:1-8
"1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest."

JOHN 20:1-8
"1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;"

As I studied these scripture accounts about the resurrection I was perplexed as to why all the accounts were different, yet with the same out come. The Messiah was no longer in the tomb.

A commentator I respect had this to say about these accounts.

"Critics may say that the Biblical witnesses discredit themselves with bias and contradictions. But surely you can’t rule out a witness for the resurrection because he believes in it. That’s like deciding the issue before you have heard the evidence, since more than likely those who did see it would believe it. As for the charge of contradictions, it may be that apparent discrepancies (like one angel vs. two angels at the tomb, Mark 16:15; Luke 24:4) are owing to different but not disparate ways of reporting the same perceived reality. But even if we admitted minor discrepancies in detail a witness is not discredited for that, especially if his testimony is largely corroborated by others.

So how shall we credit these witnesses? Persons win our trust by the beauty of their character. When all we have is their writings (and that is all we have) then we must try to perceive the spirit and the purpose of the writer in his message. If we detect a spirit of humility and integrity and sobriety and a purpose of love and truth then we will give credence to the author. If we detect a conniving, duplicitous, self-seeking attitude, we will tend to discredit what he said."

1 Corithians 15:3-8
"3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

I am also reminded that the apostles had thought with the death of Christ all hope was lost, they scattered scared and hid because the "hope" they had was lost.

LUKE 24:21
"But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened."

I believe and trust that my savior lived and died and conquered death. So that my life is not living to die, but living to live.