Last week, in the Bible, we followed the path Jesus took to His resurrection. And early this morning, we, or some of us, had a short worship service before our church's tomb. And we, again, remember those who are dead that will certainly be raised again on the Day of Jesus Christ, before or around the time of Jesus' second coming.

Now I remember those three disciples, Peter, John and James. Though they ran away leaving Jesus alone at the garden, they later received strength from the Holy Spirit and became such faithful disciples; devoted to the precious work of evangelism. Having Easter today, we are busy preparing things for this afternoon's Easter Festival. Starting from a few days ago, some people have actually been spending a lot of their time in this preparation. We too have those three faithful disciples at Chapel Noah - faithful in supporting the Church, the body of Christ.

Returning to our scripture today, it was women who first met our risen Lord. They had been very close to Him before He had been crucified, and it was they who had received the message "He is not here, for He has risen." -- When I visited Israel with some other pastors, at the beginning of the year, we went to the place where it is believed Jesus was buried, and rose again. One of the pastors was suddenly led by the Spirit to shout "Hallelujah" three times. I recall immediately following with agreement in saying "Amen!" That place was something! It had a door like this one (the pastor points to a door near him), and there was a huge rock in front of it that was used as a seal. The rock was so big and heavy that it seemed impossible to move away. -- But, those women couldn't find Him there because He had risen!

Knowing that Jesus has risen, we just can't help feeling such a joy inside. His resurrection is the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Old Testament. And, it is complete proof that death is not the end, or goal. Jesus is the first one to rise again to eternal life, and we who believe in Him will follow Him in His resurrection one day. We haven't experienced this resurrection yet, but with faith we know we will rise in Christ.

Verse 8: The women hurried away front the tomb. They didn't stick around the tomb with its old memories. Though Jesus had been buried there, once they knew that He was no longer there, they hurried away. We should be following them in this respect. We shouldn't be clinging to the past, any past. The past is dead. His resurrection is the symbol to us of forgiveness! We are freed from the old deeds we did. We are freed from the old in ourselves and from the past. 2 Co.5:17 - We are also freed from death! We are all mortal, which means that our bodies live for only a short time, and we are often so afraid of death as mortal beings. But, now He is risen! He has overcome the death that we have been so afraid of!

When the women saw the scene of Jesus' death, they must have been disappointed. He had been their hope, so when He died, they must have lost their hope in life completely. Lots of people say that death is the end, and that when we die everything disappears immediately. But, this is not true, for Jesus has overcome death!

In the past, there was a well-used pastor who had to part from his beloved 17 year old daughter. She had been very sick, but during that time she had accepted Jesus into her life, as her Lord. When she was dying, her father wanted to know if she wanted to go some place with him, but she refused. She said that she only wanted to go to Heaven. At her funeral, he gave people her testimony, and described his joy as like that of a father whose daughter was marrying; she was marrying Jesus! Now he had the wonderful relationship of a relative of Jesus who was in Heaven! At her funeral, he shouted "Hallelujah!"

Every time we have Easter, I remember this story.

We are the ones who have triumphed, you realise. We have triumphed over death because of our faith in Jesus, who has triumphed over death for us. -- Because of our belief in Him, we have triumphed with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
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