Easter 2020 Devotional – Resurrected
Day 6
by Charmain Hibberd
Marketing Assistant (Writer), CBN Europe
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Welcome to Day 6 of our Easter 2020 Devotional, we’re glad you’ve joined us! So far we have tracked Jesus’ journey from preparation and betrayal to crucifixion and burial. Today we will look at the joy of His resurrection and the hope we have in leaving the past where it belongs.
The Resurrection
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside.
He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.
(John 20:1-10 NLT)
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‘Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.’
(John 20:8-9 NLT)
He is Risen
Jesus did not remain at the cross.
Isn’t this great news?
He rose victoriously from the dead, defeating death and removing its sting, setting all who believe in Him free.
This is the Gospel, friends!
In His resurrection, Jesus placed the seal on the Gospel message that we share with others and encourages us to move on beyond the past and into the future.
The Past Is Gone
Are there any experiences in your life that you need to leave behind in order to step into the newness and the promises of God?
Whatever the situation may be, getting stuck in the old prevents us from moving on and entering the fullness of life that Jesus bought for us*.
(*If you struggle to look to the future with positivity, check out this remarkable book on getting vision for your life.)
Philippians 3:10-13 puts it like this:
‘I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead…’
No matter what circumstances you may find yourself in this Easter Sunday, let’s remember to not leave Jesus at the cross where He died.
Let’s remember that He performed the most miraculous, powerful, life-saving and life-giving act in all of history – He rose!
Let’s take the resurrected Jesus home with us and share Him with anyone and everyone we can.
Questions
In each day of our Easter 2020 Devotional we will have some new questions to ask you regarding what you have read. Why not take some time, listen to the music below, and contemplate what God would say to you today?
Q1. What does today’s scripture reveal to you?
Q2. What do you need to leave in your past in order to reach forward into your future?
Q3. What excites you about your future and can motivate you to keep moving forward in life?
