Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

August 15
Friday


IS THERE HOPE?

READ:
Matthew 28:1-10
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"He is not here; for He
is risen, as He said."
__Matthew 28:6
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I sat quietly at the graveside of my father, waiting for the private family burial of my mother to begin. the funeral director carried the urn that held her ashes. My heart felt numb and my head was in a fog. How can I handle losing them both within just 3 months? In my grief I felt loss and loneliness and a little hopeless facing a future without them.

Then the pastor read about another graveside. On the first day of the week, early in the morning, women went to Jesus' tomb, carrying spices for His body (Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1). There they were startled to find an open and empty tomb__and an angel. "Do not be afraid," he said to them (Matt. 28:5). They didn't need to be afraid of the empty tomb or of the angel, because he had good news for them.

Hope stirred when I heard the next words: "He is not here; for He is risen, and He said" (v.6). Because Jesus had come back to life, death had been conquered! Jesus reminded His followers just a few days before His death: "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19).

Even though we grieve at the loss of our loved ones, we find hope through the resurrection of Jesus and His promise that there is life after death. __Anne Cetas

```````````````````````````````Thank You, Lord, for comfort and hope.`````````````````````````
`````````````````````````````What would we do without You? Your death```````````````````````
``````````````````````````and resurrection provide all we need for this life``````````````````````
````````````````````````````````````````````and the next.``````````````````````````````````
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Because He lives, we live.

*****************************************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 28:1-10*************************************

1 Now after the Sabbath,
as the first day of the week
began to dawn, Mary
Magdalene and the other
Mary came to see the tomb.

2 And behold, there was a
great earthquake; for an
angel of the Lord descended
from heaven, and came and
rolled back the stone from
the door, and sat on it. 3 His
countenance was like
lightning, and his clothing
as white as snow. 4 And the
guards shook for fear of
him, and became like dead
men.

5 But the angel answered
and said to the women, "Do
not be afraid, for I know
that you seek Jesus who
was crucified. 6 He is not
here; for He is risen, as He
said. Come, see the place
where the Lord lay. 7 And
go quickly and tell His
disciples that He is risen
from the dead, and indeed
He is going before you into
Galilee; there you will see
Him. Behold, I have told
you."

8 So they went out quickly
from the tomb with fear and
great joy, and ran to bring
His disciples word. 9 And as
they went to tell His
disciples, behold, Jesus met
them, saying, "rejoice!" So
they came and held Him by
the feet and worshiped
Him. 10 Then Jesus said to
them, "Do not be afraid. Go
and tell My brethren to go
to Galilee, and there they
will see Me."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The "other Mary" (Matt. 28:1) in today's account is apparently the
same woman described as "Mary the wife of Clopas" who was at
the cross and burial of Jesus (27:61; John 19:25). It appears she was
the mother of James "the Less" and joses (Mark 15:40), and despite
sharing the same name, she was a sister of Mary, Jesus' mother (John
19:25).