Easter Sunday

Mary Magdalene awakens. It is still dark outside, but it is finally Sunday morning. Time to get up, she thinks to herself. Time to prepare Jesus’ body for it’s final burial. She sits for a moment on her bed, thinking of when she first met Jesus. She had been possessed by seven demons and he had commanded them to leave her. My life has not been the same since that time, she thinks to herself. Where would I be without him? What will I do without my Savior, my friend? She rises from her bed, preparing herself for what she must do, with a great heaviness on her heart.

As the first streaks of dawn wind their way across the dark sky, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, knock on the door of Mary Magdalene. “Are you ready, Mary?” they ask. “Yes.” The three women walk quickly through the streets to the place where Jesus was laid, wondering amongst themselves who would roll away the large stone that had been ordered to be placed in front of the tomb by the chief priests and the Pharisees.

“Look!” gasps Salome. Both Mary’s look in the direction of the tomb. The huge stone is gone, rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. Carefully, the three ladies walk into the tomb and are startled to see a young man sitting inside wearing a long, white robe. They are very frightened. The young man speaks and says, “Please don’t be afraid. I know that you seek Jesus. He is not here. He is risen! Look, here is the place where his body once lay.” The three women turn and run from the tomb in both fear and amazement. What has become of Jesus’ body?

A short while later, as Mary Magdalene is sitting dazed in the garden near the tomb and in shock from this morning’s events, she suddenly feels a peace envelope her. “Mary.” She looks up, startled by the sound of her name. By a voice she recognizes so well. “Rabboni! Jesus!” she gasps. “I am he that lived, and then was dead and behold I am alive forevermore. I hold the keys of hell and death.”

The Bible says “He was wounded for our transgressions (disobedience), he was bruised for our iniquities (wicked acts). The chastisement (punishment inflicted by whipping) of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed (to make whole, to restore to original purity or integrity).” Isaiah 53:5

© Melissa A. Gustafson April 8, 2007