Do You Believe?

 

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (Mark 16:1-8 ESV).

 

Recently I was reading some random reports (and, I have fact-checked this one … LOL) that reported a non-profit organization raising money for a “Jurassic Park” experiment. Some scientists have recovered DNA from both the Dodo and the Wooly Mammoth, and they believe they can de-extinct” them a release them into the wild. Well… regardless of whether that effort succeeds it will not be a resurrection from the dead. These animals, along with many others, have been extinct for millennia. They are dead and what is dead is dead.

 

Jesus really died. There is no doubt from the reaction of the disciples that they were convinced of the death of Jesus. With that their dreams, hopes, and future were dead as well. As they saw Jesus carried into the tomb, they experienced the death of everything they had thought about Jesus. Far from changing the world, Jesus seemed to be just another “messiah” who had come up short. The cold reality was that their dream of a new world was now lifeless. Jesus was dead. What they couldn’t grasp was the event of His resurrection, even though He had told them several times that would happen.

 

When our own stories and dreams have ended, that’s often when Jesus makes a powerful appearance in our lives. The women were certain that their only job was to prepare the corpse of their teacher for burial. Instead, they received an incredible invitation: Bring the good news to the disillusioned disciples who thought Jesus was gone forever. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene with the news that he is alive. When life is swallowed up by death and extinction, Jesus uses the materials of our lives and produces resurrection. He can bring dead things back to life. Believe it!