Advent: Join the Triumph預覽

The Scripture:

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See the place where they had put him” (Mark 16:6, NIRV).

The Story:

Happy Christmas Eve Eve! We are so close to opening presents and doing all the fun things that come with Christmas. With Christmas comes a lot of traditions. Maybe you have the tradition of getting a tree from a Christmas tree farm. Maybe your tradition is just getting the Christmas tree out of that weird closet where all decorations go. My family has this cool tradition of eating. Christmas is about eating as much food as possible. I don’t think it’s the healthiest tradition, but it is pretty fun eating 16 gingerbread men in one sitting.

We see here a tradition that plays out in the Bible: Angels showing up. We already saw how an Angel brought the message to Mary that she would have Jesus. Messages from Angels are all over the Bible, and the story of Jesus starts with a message from an Angel. This Scripture comes after Jesus has been framed for a crime He didn’t commit and then was killed because of it. Several days later, a group of women go to prepare Jesus for a proper burial, and when they get to the tomb, it's wide open.

Now tombs back then were blocked by a giant stone, something that is not easy to move out of the way. But it’s gone and the women walk in and hear the news from the Angel. Jesus is risen!

These Angels have all the fun because they get to announce the Greatest News Ever. Jesus will be born, Jesus has been born, and Jesus is risen. It is the Good News of the Bible that Jesus is alive. It shows that God is stronger than anything and anyone. It shows Love has defeated evil and Life has defeated death. Victory is ours for anyone who would accept it! But the good news is, we get to participate in the Good News now. We get to tell others. We shouldn’t wait for more Angels to appear because God has given us the job of telling others the Good News of Jesus.

The Triumph:

Who can you tell about Jesus today? Who can you tell that God loves us so much He sent His Son to Earth, His Son died, and then came back to life? God has called us to spread the Good News. We can love people by being just like the Angels and telling everyone, “He has risen!”