John 20:1-18

20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 20:3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 20:4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 20:5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 20:7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 20:8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 20:9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

20:10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 20:11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 20:12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

20:13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”

Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).

20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”

20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Today, we celebrate the greatest day in the history of the world! Today we celebrate the Great Truth that Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on a cross and died for each of us, arose from the dead in just three days!!  Our Lord Jesus was victorious over death and over the Grave. Our Lord rose up from the dead leaving the tomb empty. He was seen by Mary Magdelene, so that she could tell all the wonderful news!  We who are truly one with the Lord were victorious over death with His rising from death, and all of us who truly believe and follow Him, though like Him we must suffer the physical death of the body, we will be raised again to share with the Lord the Father’s eternal glory.

Where oh grave is thy victory for those who truly believe, love and follow the teachings of our Lord? There is none!! Yes, it may seem to some that when we lose loved ones to physical death, that it is the end for them, but didn’t people think exactly the same when our Lord was laid in physical death in the tomb? Of course they did!! But we who are one with our Lord know better! We know that because Our Lord Jesus died and was risen, that our bonds of eternal death were broken and have fallen from us like the cutting of shackles and has set us free. The Lord Jesus died so that each of us who truly believe will have eternal life, Such Love for us sinners that he would take on death for each of us and then turn the eternal darkness of the grave into such a wonderful victory of which we can all share!! Our Lord Lives!! He lives today together with the Father in Heaven, where all who truly believe will also live in eternal rejoicing!