"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!'" Luke 24:1-6a
There was good news on Palm Sunday. Jesus received some of the praise and honor due Him when He entered Jerusalem triumphantly a week before His crucifixion. Then there was the unbelievably horrible news when He, the Creator, was put to death in a humiliating and excruciating manner. It was seemingly the darkest day in history. Creation itself mourned this ignoble act with a three hour darkness over the land. It was as though creation could not bear to look upon Jesus' suffering.
In great irony, the day of Jesus' crucifixion is called Good Friday. But it really isn't an ironic title at all. That was the day that Jesus became victorious over sin and death in our behalf. He paid the penalty for all the sins of mankind so that whoever looks to Him can have victory over both the penalty and the power of sin. After the cross, death could not hold Jesus in the grave, and neither can it hold us. The empty tomb and Jesus' appearances after His resurrection attested to the fact that all Jesus had claimed was, indeed, true. Because Jesus lives today, we too shall live eternally with Him and share in His glory. This is the greatest good news we could ever possibly hear. No wonder we celebrate the resurrection on Easter!
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