Jesus Rises

It was still dark on the first day of the week when the women came to the tomb. They carried spices. They had loved Jesus, and they had watched Him die, and they meant to care for His body one last time.

When they arrived, the stone was already rolled away. The soldiers who had guarded it lay on the ground like dead men. An angel sat on the stone, with a face like lightning and a robe white as snow.

"Do not be afraid," the angel said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He lay." The women looked inside. The tomb was empty. Only the folded grave cloths remained.

They ran. On the path, Jesus Himself met them. "Do not be afraid," He said. "Tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me."

That evening the disciples sat behind a locked door. They were afraid. And Jesus stood among them. "Peace be with you," He said. He showed them His hands and His side. A ghost does not have flesh and bone. It was Him.

Thomas was not there that night. When the others told him, he said, "Unless I put my finger in the nail marks, I will not believe." A week later Jesus came again. He looked at Thomas. "Put your finger here. See my hands. Do not doubt. Believe." Thomas fell to his knees. "My Lord and my God." For forty days Jesus walked with them. More than five hundred people saw Him alive. Then He returned to the Father, and He promised He would come again.