Jesus Wins! A Holy Week DevotionalSample

The Main Event

. . . with fear and great joy. (v. 8)

Dead people don’t rise. Jesus’ resurrection is the most consequential event in history. How you respond to it is the most consequential decision of your life. At the site of Jesus’ resurrection, everyone had the same reaction: fear. Who wouldn’t? The brilliance of an angel rolling back a stone causing an earthquake (v. 2). And the tomb is empty! The stone is not rolled away to let Jesus out but to let the guards and the women see what happened: “He is not here, for he has risen” (v. 6).

What do you do with that kind of too-amazing-to-be-true news? The guards became like “dead men” (v. 4), and yet some went to the chief priests (v. 11). They tried to control and conspire with the elders to spread a lie (vv. 12-15). They could not bring themselves to recognize Jesus as Lord. The women’s fear led to a different path. They departed “with fear and great joy” (v. 8). When Jesus met them on the way, they “took hold of his feet and worshiped him” (v. 9).

What will you do with the resurrection of Jesus? You can run from Jesus and exert whatever control you think you have over a future you cannot predict. Or you can worship Jesus. When you do, you’re set free from a past you cannot change and given a future you cannot imagine. Romans 10:9 promises, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” What joy!

As you pray, worship Jesus.

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We hope this plan encouraged you as you prepare to celebrate Easter.

Want to dig deeper? You can get your copy of Jesus Wins: A Holy Week Devotional from Words of Hope, featuring additional content to read and journal through for Lent and Easter.