We could be celebrating Easter Sunday for years probably, yet we could be celebrating this without any sense in our Christian lives. It's all because we have been heavily very comfortable and used to our emotions. We urge you on this blessed resurrection day, that we will make it a reality by not only simply knowing and believing what Christ achieved for us on this day but also internalizing the day by the divine transformation of our lives in behaviors, actions, and mindset.
The resurrection account is been communicated to us by the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit from all of the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In all accounts, we have a small group of ladies that play an important role in the narratives. When we say playing an important role, we do not mean to say that they played a part in the resurrection of Christ. But we mean to say that they have become familiar or famous in the resurrection accounts of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:1-7; Mark:16:1-8; Luke:24:1-12; and John 20:1-10
Mary Magdalene, Mary The Mother Of James, and Salome
We would like to take your kind attention to this group of ladies and would like to encourage you to please make your Easter experience a blessed one. If we could further add to it, we would urge you to please not make your Resurrection Day experience emotional but rather make it an intelligible experience.
Emotionalism Reject the Word:
Luke informs us about a very interesting account of these ladies in chapter 23: 50-56. These ladies were witnesses to all that happened on the crucifixion day, they were there till the man Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, takes the body of Jesus and buries our Lord Jesus Christ in the Tomb (Luke 23:55 “The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid”). And further, it says that they went back after all these and prepared the spices “Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments” the same verse 56 says that they rested since the next day was a Sabbath “On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment”. And Luke in the next chapter 24 begins with this “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared”.
The ladies definitely are weaker vessels, and here they are absolutely emotional, they were perhaps crying and thinking all is gone. They need to show their love and care for the body at least, so, therefore, they started preparing the spices from Friday itself for the dead body of Christ. Please see and remember that these ladies had seen how the Man Joseph of Arimathea had already wrapped the body of Jesus with linen and spices John gives the details of it in verse 19:40 “So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ” In spite of all these being done, they wanted to show their love for Christ, and their love was mixed with a lot of emotions that they have forgotten THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST.
The enemies are aware of the words of Jesus and what Jesus proclaimed but the ones who love and show sympathy to Jesus forget the words of Jesus. Mathew tells us in chapters 27: 62-66.
“The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’
Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.”
So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.”
The enemies of Jesus who could hardly hear him daily or with respect could remember what Christ had said but the ones who loved him and experienced his greatness AT THIS TIME FORGOT THE WORDS OF CHRIST. The group of ladies was very sure that Jesus is dead and that he will be just one of us who die and decay. They definitely had heard the words of Jesus that the enemies knew, but they were so emotionally driven that they are thinking all of those words of Jesus are of no use, perhaps they said or thought those words are not for taking in reality or literally.
Are we not like those ladies today: We have read it, memorize it, and preach it but we hardly have experienced it in our lives and practiced or lived it in our lives. We make Jesus our King and Savior but his words are just mere words in our lives.
Jesus Said: Love one another …Go and preach to all the world …Be ye holy…Help one another…Submit yourself…Love your wives…Submit to your husbands…Obey your parents…Obey your Authorities…Live in unity …Sin not…Make disciples… Sanctify yourselves… Be humble… change your attitude… change your behaviors…
We could keep going and fill all the space…
Just one question to all of us: Are we not living in emotionalism and ruining the resurrection reality?
Emotionalism Rejects the Work:
Not only Emotionalism rejects the Word, but emotionalism also rejects the work. It is surprising to find the desire of these ladies toward our Lord Jesus Christ. We already have noticed above that these ladies had witnessed what was happening or had happened. And how difficult it would be for them to do the formalities that they are thinking of. They have seen that there was a huge stone that was used to cover the Tomb of Jesus and the next day the enemies of Christ sealed the Tomb so that no one can enter in or enter out from the Tomb but still these ladies have gone almost crazy. Mark says that they were talking to one another in 16:3 “And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
The ladies knew all the work was been done towards protecting the tomb of Jesus Christ, but yet they are so irrational and emotional to think of the formalities that they are thinking of doing to the body of Christ. Besides ignoring and rejecting Jesus’s word, they definitely had the option to avoid this blunder of anointing the body of Christ on the third day since it was impossible for them to do it by themselves, in terms of rolling of the stone and entering the tomb since it was sealed and protected by the guards.
The emotionalism of the ladies made them blinded by the reality and work that it needs to be done or required. Should we call it their faith to roll the stone? No, absolutely they were not thinking of all the realities. When we become emotional we often forget the reality that is there. When we become emotional we also often overlook the depth and intensity of reality, just like the ladies who took so easy off the guards and had difficulty in rolling the huge stone.
Apostle Paul writes to Philippians work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). We think salvation is so easy, yes, of course, it is easy, it is by faith and grace alone from the Lord and not of the works that we should boast. But nevertheless, we should not forget about the fruits and results that are expected of us from our salvation.
We think as if we can do anything and get away from the Lord. There are greater demands and requirements from the Lord as proof of his work in our lives. Jesus told us to deny the world and its pleasure, not to lay up the treasure on earth but in heaven, to carry our cross daily. We have almost all the time taken it as irrelevant and useless because we have rejected the work that we need to put forth towards the life that we have received from the Lord. There is a demand for continuous sanctification from our end, but we are so comfortable in the Old life that we do not want to think of putting our efforts towards this continuous sanctification. We all love the easy-going and easy life.
Friends, we encourage you to please make this resurrection day as an intelligible and experiential one, not an emotional one. May we join with Apostle Paul and say “I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”