Nougat 3

I’ve read it before, and just now it’s registered again that His resurrection IS Good News for us to share. Today’s Holy Nougat offers more details.

“He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

Come See; Go Tell

There at his birth, the angels appeared to shepherds, telling them what they would see (ie look for) as proof that the babe born in the city of David was the Messiah. They didn’t need to be told twice! As of the sheep under their care mattered not, those shepherds hastened to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to them. Shepherds to Shepherd … it must have been a profound moment. And Luke 2:17-18 tells us that the shepherds became evangelists – messengers of the Good News, not based on the word of the angel, but out of their own experience.

Three decades later, the Grown Child Jesus was slain at Calvary. That must have been hard for Jesus’s community. Imagine the Messiah dying prior to everyone else, despite His raising others from the dead! And none of the rituals were done. At best, He was buried like He was as an infant … in swaddling clothes! Ironic isn’t it t?

The angels appeared three days after the hasty burial, just before the women could tend to the ritualistic ‘purification’ and preservation of Jesus’ body. (One more day, and it would be too late!) The message was for them. And, as was told at His birth by the angels to the shepherds, the women were allowed to see. Come see where He laid – but He’s not there. The Risen Christ has done it – proven beyond all doubt that He’s the Messiah.

Interestingly, the women were instructed to tell – the disciples – what they’d seen. Why? Isn’t it assumed that women are good gossips and would share on their own? I suspect that the angels knew that the news was too good to be believed! And that telling others might have been dangerous for the women’s welfare. (Remember the guards!)

A slight shift from the birth experience is that Jesus Himself was going ahead of the women, no angels joined in song. Nevertheless, I am confident that the women were bursting with song! They were not the evangelists; and the news they had to share was Exceptionally Good!

You and I are also witnesses to the resurrection for we know that Jesus is risen. And we know that He’s gone ahead to prepare a place, like He’d promised, for us. His Father’s house has space for as many of us who chose Him.

It’s not a fertility message about eggs and rabbits,

but it is The Good News of salvation for all. Simply because He died and rose again.

Hear the angel inviting us, ‘Come see; Go Tell.’

Will we Go Tell, having ‘seen’ (experienced) for ourselves that He’s Risen?

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May all we seek be found in Christ