So, this is what this whole week has been leading up to. Easter Sunday. The passage we're looking at is John 20:1-29.

So, Jesus was not in his tomb. She goes to get the other disciples, and they follow her. Grave robbing was an unfortunately common practice back then, so they thought that someone had taken his body during the night.

Mary Magdalene was crying outside Jesus's tomb, even though it was empty. She sees two angles but is too distraught to realize what was happening. Then she goes to leave, and runs into Jesus, but mistakes him for a gardener. When he asks her what's wrong, she tells him that someone has taken her LORD away. Then Jesus says her name, making her realize that it was him. She had been possessed by 7 demons before, so she might have been called things like "the girl with 7 demons," and not many people might have known her name, much less call her by it. So when Jesus says it, she recognizes him instantly. He tells her not to embrace him, but to tell the others. So she does. But the powerful thing is that for a while, Mary Magdalene was the entirety of the Christian church. The church is not a building, it's the people. So what would have happened if she didn't share it? God would have found another way. But the point is that she shared it. She went and told everyone the good news. We need to share it too.

Next, Jesus appears to the disciples. And they now have the power to forgive sins. Not much to this section.

In the next section, we see Doubting Thomas. Even though everyone is saying that Jesus is alive, he just says ill believe it when I see it. Then Jesus does appear to him. And Jesus says "Blessed are those who believe without seeing" and it's clear that he's referring to us. We didn't see him die on the cross. We didn't see him after he rose again. But we believe it anyways.

That's all I have this week. I hope you've enjoyed going through the Easter Story with me! Please comment or PM me with any additions to what I said, questions about anything, or prayer requests. Have a good day!