Jesus Shows His Wounds
The Sunday evening after Jesus was resurrected, some of His disciples were gathered together discussing the Resurrection. Suddenly Jesus appeared to them and said, "Peace be unto you." (Luke 24:36)
The disciples were frightened because they thought they were seeing a spirit. Jesus asked, "Why are ye troubled? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24:38-39)
Jesus showed His disciples the wounds in His hands, feet, and side. To further prove to them that He was not a spirit, but had a body, Jesus asked for something to eat. The disciples gave Jesus a piece of broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb and He ate it in front of them. They greatly rejoiced at the sight of their risen Lord.
And that is the end of Easter week. This has been an amazing journey for me. I have thought about these things all day, each day this week, imagining them so clearly as if I were there. I obviously simplified each day as I told the girls, but I think I will keep doing this every year so they will know the story of the crucifixion and resurrection by detail. They were so excited to find out what happened each day. It really surprised me at how intently they listened and looked at the pictures. I also learned a lot and enjoyed the breakdown because it gave me a little bit of time each day to ponder the excruciating sacrifice Christ made on my behalf, as well as the joy that came soon after.
EASTER SUNDAY MORNING
At the Tomb
Adjacent to Golgotha (the hill of Calvary) on the west is the quiet, secluded spot known as the Garden Tomb, a large sepulchre carved into the solid rock. Like many Jewish tombs of Jesus' day, this one is composed of two chambers, one serving as an outer room for mourners and the other as a burial chamber where the body was laid. The entrance was closed by a large stone that rolled into place along the rock-cut channel that fronts the tomb. The Garden Tomb today is situated in quiet seclusion among clean, flowered paths shaded by beautiful trees. Here, it is concluded, were uttered the most significant words in man's earthly history: "HE IS RISEN!"
On the third day after Jesus' death, Sunday, (I guess they count Friday as the first day, Saturday as the second, and Sunday as the third instead of a full 72 hours) very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, went to the sepulchre. They took with them the spices which they had prepared for His body. To their surprise, they found that the stone had been removed from the entrance. They went inside to find the body of Jesus gone. They were sorely worried and troubled. Suddenly they saw two men standing by them in shining clothes. The women were frightened and bowed their faces to the earth. The men asked,
"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered unto the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." (Luke 24:5-7)
The women left the sepulchre and told the eleven disciples of the things they had seen. The disciples, however, doubted at what the women had told them. Peter and John went to the sepulchre to see for themselves and found only the empty linen cloth which had been wrapped about Jesus.
After Peter and John went home, Mary stood weeping outside the empty tomb of Jesus. She looked into the sepulchre and saw two angels in white. One was sitting at the head where Jesus' body had lain and the other at the feet. The angels asked Mary why she was crying. She said, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." (John 20:13)
Mary turned away and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize Him. He asked her why she was crying and whom she was looking for. Mary thought He was the gardener or caretaker and said, "Sir, if thou have borne Him hence, tell me where thou last laid Him, and I will take Him away." (John 20:15)
Then Jesus said, "Mary." Mary turned and recognized Him and cried, "Rabboni," which means Master. (John 20:16)
Jesus asked Mary not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to His Father in Heaven. He told her to go to the Apostles and tell them that she had seen Him. Jesus said, "Say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17)
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