The Empty Tomb

Tears fall freely down my face as I stoop to gaze into this hole of death. I came early in the morning because this tomb holds the body of my Lord or did. I let my knees hit the ground at the entrance of the hollowed-out rock, let sobs shake my body. Suddenly, a burning light strikes my swollen eyes. My heart races, and I see two angels standing in front of me. “Dear woman, why are you weeping?” one asks. “They have taken away my Lord,” I answer. “My only Lord ,” I thought, “the one who healed me from demons and cleansed my sin-sick soul.” Footsteps sound behind me, and I turn. Bleary-eyed and dizzy, I see a man walking toward me. “Please!” I beg. “If you have taken my Lord away, tell me where He is so I can go get Him ” I end in sobs as I turn back toward the place where Jesus’s body had been laid. I feel darkness, death, and the hate of men smoldering like rancid fog out of the tomb. My eyes gaze transfixed upon it, unable to look away. “Mary,” a voice says gently. I gasp as my heart skips a beat. I know that voice! I turn to the man with urgency, and a cry escapes my mouth as my eyes meet His. Light, life, and the love of God radiate from His face. “My Lord is alive!” • Lily Walsh • Today’s story is how one author imagines the moment Mary Magdalene first saw Jesus after He rose from the dead! As we can read in today’s Bible passage, Mary was heartbroken when she couldn’t find Jesus’s body. Why do you think Mary felt so close to Jesus? • Why did Jesus need to die—and raise from the dead—to save us? (Check out our “Know Jesus” page.) • While we wait for Jesus to return, we live in a world filled with death and hate. How might remembering that Jesus defeated death give us hope? • If you want to dig deeper, you can read more about Mary Magdalene in all four Gospels. A few passages that relate to today’s story are Luke 8:1-3, Mark 15:40-47 and 16:9. Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” John 20:18a (NLT)