On the third day after Jesus died on the cross, a group of women, two of whom named Mary, went to the tomb where Jesus was buried.

Instead of finding the body of Jesus, an angel told them that Jesus had risen!

The women were now at a loss. What should they do next?

We must ask ourselves the same question: what should we do now that Jesus has risen?

Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”

So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news. Just then Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

The first thing we must do when we hear that Jesus has risen is simply believe it (v. 5-6).

The women could have listened to the angels and then refused to believe it.

Until we accept this truth, it will not change who we are.

We must believe that Jesus has risen!

And then, once we learn of the resurrection of Christ, we all have a mission: to tell others about Jesus (v. 7).

So when the women learned the news about Jesus, they were told to tell others.

So notice what the women did (v. 8).

They ran to tell the news to the disciples!

We also must run to tell others that Jesus has risen! We ought all be excited about this news!

I like the common analogy that those who are growing in Christ are on fire.

But we have good news to be excited about!

We, like the women in this story, ought to run to share the good news!

But I want you to notice how they felt while they ran (v. 8).

When we set out to tell people the news about Jesus, we may still fear.

It’s one thing to have fear. It’s quite another thing to allow your fears to dictate how you live.

When we set out to tell people the news about Jesus, we will also have great joy!

But our greatest joy is not in anything that we do, but in Christ alone, who paid the debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

Because of the resurrection, Christ can comfort and encourage us as we seek to be faithful to Him.

That’s what He did for the women who were still afraid (v. 9-10).

The angel told them that they would see Jesus in Galilee, but Jesus saw their apprehension and decided to comfort them sooner, even while they were on their way to tell the disciples the news.

Know that Jesus Christ is always with you in the form of the Holy Spirit, living in you.

Psalm 30 is a beautiful prophetic passage about the resurrection of Jesus.

You turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness (Psalm 30:11)

That’s certainly what Jesus did for the women that morning.

The resurrection of Jesus is good news that most people in our world have still not seriously considered.

So Jesus has given all of us the same task that He gave to the women that morning (v. 16-20).