Rising With Hope

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb at dawn. There was an earthquake. An angel rolled back the stone and sat on it. The guards were terrified. The angel said to the women: 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.' The stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out — He was already gone. The stone was rolled away so you could look in and see that the tomb is empty. Death could not hold Him. And because He lives, death cannot hold you either.

The women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy. They ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.' The first people to preach the resurrection were women. The ones the world did not take seriously were the ones God chose to carry the most important news in history. Jesus did not appear to the powerful or the religious elite. He appeared to the faithful. And He gave them a job: go and tell. That job is still yours.

Paul says we were buried with Christ through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. The resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus — it is something that happens to you. When you put your faith in Christ, you are united with Him in His death and His resurrection. You do not have to keep living the old life. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that enables you to walk in newness of life. You can rise because He rose.