Early Riser

John 20:1-9:

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Blog:

Mary Magdalene must have been an early riser – or, at the very least, she wasn’t sleeping very well after witnessing first-hand the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  She arrived at Jesus’ tomb early on a Sunday morning while it was still dark.  In Jesus’ days, a woman walking alone in the dark to a tomb guarded by Roman soldiers would have been both dangerous and scandalous at the same time.  But isn’t that what Jesus teaches His Disciples through His own Example?  To be courageous in the face of danger by laying down our lives both Spiritually and physically, if needed?  To create worldly scandals through Evangelizing for God?  Mary’s arrival early that first Easter morning was a simple act of Faithful Obedience to our Lord and Savior.  You see, Jesus is the Ultimate Early Riser – whether at His Resurrection, in the Gospel Stories, or in our times of tribulation.  Jesus just didn’t rise from the dead – He rises-up each and every day through all of us.  He is intimately involved in all of our lives regardless of whether or not we acknowledge that.  Jesus lives, so that we, too, can live.  So, let’s be sure to live out our own Resurrection Stories in Christ.  Like the famous song, Amazing Grace, reminds us all, “I once was lost [dead], but now I am found [live].”  And, let’s do our best to Rise as early as possible every single day in Him.