{"id":7125,"date":"2020-04-08T12:16:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T17:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brethren.org\/?p=7125"},"modified":"2020-04-08T12:16:18","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T17:16:18","slug":"ebrethren-4-8-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/2020\/04\/08\/ebrethren-4-8-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Are we ready to rise?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n
\"\"
Photo by T. C. Perch<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Traci Rabenstein, director of Mission Advancement<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAfter the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene\u00a0and the other Mary\u00a0went to look at the tomb.<\/em>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There was a violent earthquake,\u00a0for an angel\u00a0of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone\u00a0and sat on it. . . .<\/em>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The angel said to the women, \u2018Do not be afraid,\u00a0for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.\u00a0He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.\u00a0Come and see the place where he lay.\u00a0Then go quickly and tell his disciples: \u2018He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.\u00a0There you will see him.\u2019 Now I have told you.\u2019\u201d ~Matthew 28:1-2,5-7<\/em>

As Mary Magdalene and Mary went to the tomb, I can\u2019t imagine what went through their minds as they experienced the earthquake and encountered the angel. Maybe a feeling of sickness in their stomachs? Feeling light-headed?\u00a0 They must have looked at each other with confusion and concern about what everything meant. I wonder if they had to ask the angel to repeat the message\u2014I wouldn\u2019t have been thinking clearly enough the first time and would have needed to hear it again.

\u201cDo not be afraid,\u201d the angel said. \u201cThe One whom you seek is not here. He has risen just like He said. Go and tell the disciples that He will meet them in Galilee.\u201d

Matthew says the women ran, with fear and great joy, to deliver the message to the disciples. Again, I wonder how many times the women needed to repeat the message:

\u201cThere was an earthquake. Did you feel it? An angel rolled the stone away and showed us that Jesus wasn\u2019t in the tomb. He is alive! And we saw him! Touched him and held on for dear life. He told us to tell you he\u2019ll meet you in Galilee. You can\u2019t stay here hidden, you must go and meet him. He\u2019ll be there!\u201d<\/em>

Other gospel accounts tell us that some of the disciples went to the tomb to see for themselves. They just couldn\u2019t comprehend what the women were saying and struggled to believe them. Why didn\u2019t they just pack up and start their trip to Galilee? Why didn\u2019t they have faith?

As we reflect on all the events of Holy Week, why do we ever lack faith? Why do we continue to stare into an empty tomb; some days just going through the motions? Even now, it can be easy to become complacent and comfortable with the rituals of our daily lives. \u201cOh, I\u2019ll read the Bible tomorrow.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll find time to pray later.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll make sure Easter is special for me\/my family next year.\u201d

What Jesus did\u2014by dying and rising from the dead\u2014was revolutionary. It was a game changer! Even when we endure hardship and loss or the earth rumbles beneath our feet, we don\u2019t need to fear because Jesus has conquered all death, darkness, and despair. We now have hope of God\u2019s presence right now and the promise of eternal life. Our relationship with Jesus gives us assurance that we no longer need to fear anything.

Our mission, much like for Mary Magdalene and Mary, is to pass along the wonderful news that our Savior is alive and waiting for us. We are called to join the revolution of Jesus by teaching about his transformative work and inviting others to come and see him.

Regardless of what we are thinking or feeling right now, Jesus is alive and well and waiting to have fellowship with us. Are we ready for our spirits to rise with our risen Lord? Will we flee from fear, share a message of hope, and show the world another way of living<\/em>?

Learn how the ministries of the Church of the Brethren reveal another way of living at www.brethren.org<\/a> or support them at www.brethren.org\/gi<\/a>v<\/a>e<\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Read this issue of eBrethren<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\u201cAfter the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.” ~Matthew 28:1\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[356],"class_list":["post-7125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ebrethren","tag-easter"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}