The center of Christianity is
Jesus Christ, a person. But what do we know about Jesus
Christ? Everything we know about Jesus
Christ is in the Bible. And if you don't know the Bible,
you don't know Jesus Christ. In the Bible, it is said that
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, that is, that his birth was miraculous. The Bible also tells us that
Jesus Christ lived in this world without sin, that he performed
miracles, that he taught crowds, and that he died crucified by
wicked men, and that he was resurrected, and that he ascended to heaven.
If Jesus Christ has not risen from the dead, there is no salvation
for our souls. But in the subject of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, we have a lot of information in the Gospels,
which are found at the beginning of the New Testament. And in
the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, and in the first verses of
this chapter, there is very important information that is given to
us. The incident took place after the death of the Lord Jesus,
and after he had been in the tomb from Friday to Sunday. And here is what we read. After the Sabbath, at the dawn
of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other
Mary went to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great
earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, came
to roll the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning,
and his clothes white as snow. The guards trembled with fear
and became like dead. But the angel took the word and
said to the woman, For you, do not fear, for I know that you
are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is resurrected, as he had
said. Come, see the place where he
was laid to rest, and go promptly to tell his disciples that he
has risen from the dead." When these two women came to the sepulchre
that Sunday morning, they did not expect at all to see what
they were going to see. For neither she nor the apostles
understood the teaching of the Lord Jesus, who had told them
very clearly that he was going to resurrect the dead. So, for
them, the sepulchre was first and foremost the symbol of despair
and disappointment. Jesus, whom they had followed
and whom they had heard the teaching, and of which they expected many
things, were dead. But also, in the second place,
the sepulchre speaks of a lack of faith on the part of the disciples.
For if they had believed in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
as He had announced, it would probably not have been worth
burying Him as He had done, for they would have known that He
would remain in the tomb only for three days. When these two
women arrived at the sepulchre, imagine a little their astonishment
when they met an angel. And the message of the angel
was important. Here is what he tells them. Come,
see the place where he was laid, and go promptly to tell his disciples
that he has risen from the dead. Come to see, go to say. This is the message that we have
announced to the world, as the angel did that day, speaking
to these two women. Come and see. But come and see what? First
of all, the invitation was to come to the tomb. And this tomb
was not in the city, no, it was far from the city. So these women
had to leave the city, to come to the countryside, in
a garden, and to be alone in front of the empty tomb. And
this is the invitation that the Lord is addressing us today,
to meet Him outside of all the daily activity. This activity,
of course, is important. There is nothing wrong with what
we are occupied with, with our daily occupations, but He invites
us has left aside these things to find us before Him alone,
that nothing prevents us from seeing Him as the Resurrected
Christ. We must put the salvation of
our soul before the activity of life, before work, before
money, even before our family. In second place, the invitation
of the angel, addressed to the woman, was to come and see an
empty tomb. He did not invite them to come
and see the embalmed body of the Lord Jesus, no. He invites
them to come and see the place where he had been laid to rest.
He was no longer there. The tomb was empty. And this
is the invitation that the Lord addresses us to today. come and
see an empty tomb, that is to say, believe in the bodily resurrection
of the Lord Jesus. Today there are many people who
would like to doubt the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus
to replace it with a spiritual resurrection. But, you know,
all of this is very, very false. The Bible clearly teaches that
Jesus was resurrected bodily, and that he ascended to heaven
bodily. And those who do not want to
believe what the Bible says cannot be children of God. In third
place, This invitation, addressed by the angel to his wives, was
to come and see the bands that had enveloped his body, and the
angel who had covered his head. This is discussed in another
Gospel, and you can read it for yourselves in the Gospel of John,
chapter 20, verses 5 to 7. It is important to note this
detail. In the Bible, Another story is
the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, whom the Lord Jesus
had raised from the dead. You can read about it in the
Gospel of John, chapter 11. But when Lazarus was raised from
the dead, we read that he came out of the tomb, always surrounded
by bands that had enveloped his body. But this was not the case
for the Lord himself. When he came out of the tomb,
he left the bands in place. Why? Quite simply because he
would no longer need them. This was not the case for Lazarus,
for Lazarus was a man and he was going to die again, but not
the Lord Jesus. He was resurrected from the dead
so that he would never go there again. and these people would
no longer need them, they could leave them on the spot. The total victory of Christ over
death is a central thing in Christianity. In fourth place, this invitation
addressed by the angel to these women is to come and see the
grave of a murdered man. Jesus Christ had been assassinated. One executes a murderer, a criminal,
but one assassinates someone innocent. And the Lord Jesus
was innocent. It is your sins that have assassinated
Him, for He died in the place of sinners like you and me. So the invitation is addressed
to us. Come and see the tomb of a man
murdered in our place. I invite you today to look with
the eyes of faith into this empty tomb and to believe in the Lord
Jesus, who died for sinners like you. There is no salvation outside
of Jesus Christ. We are always very happy to receive
letters from our listeners. If you have a problem, or if
you think that we can help you, write to us and we will be very
happy to answer you. Here is the address to which
you must write. Echo of the Truth Postal Box
505 71 322 Chalon sur Saône, ça s'écrit
C-H-A-L-O-N, France. Je vous répète cet adresse. Echos
de la vérité, boîte postale 505-71322, Chalon sur Saône, France. At the end of the desert, I still
have hope today. Up to the bottom of the sea,
I still have hope today. Let the soul fly to the other
side, To relax at your word. Here.