the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and said, Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Matthew 28:2; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5-6.
At the coming of Jesus to this world, angels were the messengers (evangelists) who proclaimed the great joy that the Savior was born. At His new birth, when He entered from death into life, angels again proclaim His resurrection from the grave, His second appearing among the living. They kindly reproach the pious women who sought among the dead the Lord of Life that was risen. What joy it must have been to these loving souls that it was vouchsafed to them first to proclaim this great, eternal Gospel in a world of tombs; that they were the first heralds of the kingdom, to cry, "He is risen!" If the angels, who are not chiefly concerned, rejoice because of this message, how much more ought we to rejoice! For He died for us; He rose again for us; He lives for us and we with Him, if we rise with Him and walk in the newness of life. But how can we rejoice when we continue to lie in the bonds of sin and death? Then we "seek the living among the dead," and will not find Him. He is to be found among the living only, who are quickened and risen with Him from the tomb of perdition.
Jesus, my Redeemer lives!
I, too, unto life must waken:
He will have me where He is:
Shall my courage then be shaken?
Shall I fear? Or could the Head
Rise and leave its members dead?
