Notes can be powerful messages. They tell you what someone wants you to know when they are not able to deliver the message in person. They can be a beautiful reminder of the love and caring an important person in your life has for you. I used to leave notes for my son years ago before cell phones and texting. He could then receive direction, encouragement, and support when I was at work, while having information he needed to make his day better. When he was in Elementary School, I would put affirmations and encouragement or humorous notes in his sack lunch for school. As he grew older I would put them by his computer or on the dash of his car. He used to leave notes for me too, telling me he loves me, or that he is sorry for something, or where he has gone. I still cherish those.
I want to talk today about another note left in love. The record for this note delivering the most beautiful message of love and victory ever is found in all four Gospels of the Bible. I will be referencing Matthew, but the parallel Gospels have more information as well. Jesus left a very poignant, thoughtful note for His disciples in an extremely critical moment of their lives and of their faith. It wasn't on paper..or papyrus. It wasn't in a scroll, or written in the dirt. It wasn't on the counter...it was at the very tomb where they had laid His body after His crucifixion. It was in the form of an exceedingly special angel who had been sent to them with a very important message – directly from God! Matthew records that this angel's appearance was specifically for Mary Magdalene and the other Mary on that very early morning while it was still dark. It was cold and the sun was not up yet as they made their way to the sepulcher where Christ's body was laid. He came to remind them of something Jesus had said earlier, before His crucifixion, and in their trauma they had forgotten. Matthew 28:2 tells us there was a great earthquake when the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled the stone away from the entrance, sitting upon it. The glory of God and the message this angel had radiated from his face to the extent it appeared as lightening, and his clothes were as brilliantly white as freshly fallen snow in the sunlight! The guards at the tomb were so overcome with fear at the other-worldly sight that they passed out, but somehow the women did not! This living note from God Himself knew why they were there, to seek Jesus who had been crucified, and told them to not be afraid for Jesus had risen just as He said He would! Inviting them into the tomb to see the emptiness of where Jesus had lain, the angel told them to immediately and quickly go and tell the disciples He has risen and He will meet them all later in Galilee! The word they delivered was proven true and they were not disappointed.
What a note! There was no denying the author and no fear of it not being delivered! It was sent out of the same compassionate love and mercy that propelled the only begotten Son of God to earth to be horribly tortured and crucified and become the ultimate blood sacrifice for sin. But it does not end there. You see, His suffering, death, and crucifixion were all profound aspects of the purposes planned out by God from before the foundation of the world. The victory of Christ over death would allow God to gather together into one, all things which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him. Jesus did ascend to the Father, and His sacrifice was accepted. He did enter behind the veil into the Most Holy place and the presence of the Father with the angelic host praised His coming. Now, through His blood and the eternal Spirit, Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. The love of God made a way for us to be able to live with Him and His Beloved Son as a family for all eternity should we desire to do so. He left explicit instructions on how to live as a member of God's family. Understanding that we are but flesh, He promised that after He returned to His Father, He would send His Holy Spirit to give all of us who acknowledge Him as Lord, and not only confess our sin but repent of the life of sin, the power to be able to be successful!
Jesus did meet them in Galilee and there began a forty day intense training and relationship-rebuilding seminar (Acts 1:3). Before they could take on the mission to take the gospel to all the world, they had to confront their fears, doubts, and relationship issues in order to experience the high level of unity required to withstand the opposition which is always there to try to suppress the Truth. At the end of that forty days, Jesus went to sit at the right hand of the Father, being taken up with a cloud receiving him out of their sight (verse 9). They kept watching for Him when two angels appeared and stood beside them. They asked why they were still looking into the sky as Jesus will return in the same way. Then came the miracle of Pentecost...
Do you know that Jesus still sends you notes? While reading His Words, look for His love, direction, comfort, and support. His humor is there, too! Look for messages to make your morning, day, and life better! Seek His face, He comes to you...
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