“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” --John 20:19
Have you ever had a bad day? Bad days are unavoidable. They often come unannounced and give us little opportunity to respond to them. Bad days, at the very least, are aggravating. Bad days don't discriminate. Children have bad days. Adults have bad days. Today, we celebrate an important day. Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a day that changed the entire world and the lives of millions of people. What a difference a day makes! This text focuses on Christ at the end of the resurrection day. The crucifixion of Christ was a tremendous blow to his disciples. They had high hopes of establishing the kingdom of God on earth with Jesus as King and themselves as his royal court, some sitting on his left and others on his right. As the stone was sealed in front of the tomb, their hopes were also sealed away. Early Sunday morning the women came to the tomb to anoint his body with spices. They had hurriedly wrapped him without completing the process. When they left home, they fully expected to find Jesus' body just as they had left it. Instead, they found the stone rolled away. John's account tells how the women saw Christ himself risen and spoke to him. Other Gospel accounts tell more details. In Matthew the women are told by the angels that Jesus had risen. They said, "Come see the place where the Lord lay." In Luke 24 the women are told not to be afraid, but are asked, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" Mark 16 identifies Mary as the first person to see Christ alive. All of the Gospels describe the same great event, one with more detail than the other. While many focus on the beginning of the day, John focuses on the end of the day in a peculiar way. The disciples enclosed themselves in a room and shut the doors. They were afraid for their lives. Since Jesus had been crucified, some concluded they would be next. It was a striking contrast to the boldness they had shown just a few days earlier. Peter was so bold that he cut off a man's ear at the garden and swore he would never reject the Lord. Now he was huddled with the others, shivering and afraid. What a difference a few days made. Their fear was equaled by their surprise when Christ appeared himself. He challenged them to look at his hands and his feet, to bring him something to eat and even invited them to inspect the nail prints in his hands and feet. The appearance of Jesus made their day. What began as a bad day of low spirits and defeat, ended in victory. Together, the gospels give us an account of one amazing day that began with women making a sad pilgrimage to the tomb, only to find it empty. It ends with 10 of the disciples seeing Christ in his glory standing in triumph. It began with defeat, fear and hiding. It ended in celebration, praise and renewed faith. What a difference a day makes. The women who came to the tomb came with low expectations. They expected to find Christ dead, even though he told them repeatedly that he would rise in three days. They woke up expecting a bad day. There are many people today who begin each day with low expectations. Attitudes set the tone of every day of our lives. The attitudes that we carry to work, school or community service have a great effect on the way we appreciate every day. It is dangerous to prejudge the day before it begins. In the same manner it is also troublesome to prejudge every situation before it actually unfolds. When Israel stood at the banks of the Red Sea there were many who had already prejudged the situation and concluded that they were lost. Pharaoh's army was behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them, making the possibility of survival very slim. The wind was blowing, but they didn't understand why. The waves on the water were rippling but they didn't understand why. They saw all of these signs, expected defeat and began to complain. Moses told them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. On the other hand, a woman who had an issue of blood heard that Jesus would be passing by. She felt that if she could push her way through the crowd and touch the hem of his garment she would be healed and made whole. It didn't matter that she was old and sick; she expected to be satisfied! It didn't matter that she had an issue of blood for 12 years; she expected to see Jesus! The women came to the tomb expecting to see the body of a dead rabbi, but they ended up seeing the living Lord. The text elaborates that Mary looked into the tomb, saw two angels sitting at the head and foot of the slab where Jesus lay. She saw Jesus but did not recognize him, thinking he was a gardener. Finally, she recognized him as the risen Lord and she became excited. The bible says in Romans 8:28 reminds us, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Believers understand that sometimes God has to trouble the waters, to roll back the sea for us. Sometimes he has to heat up the kitchen of our experiences to put food on the table. God's hand is in every experience of believers. Whenever we can see God working in a situation, our attitude about it begins to change. We must consider that bad days become good days when Jesus shows up! It doesn't matter how bad things are, things change the day Jesus shows up. A lame man sat by the pool for 38 years, that's 13, 870 days, but one day Jesus showed up and told him to take up his bed and walk. What a difference a day makes! Believers should not count on the praise of men to determine whether they are having a good day, but put their trust in the Lord. People will praise you one day, and turn against you the next. Saints should never be intimidated by the events of any experience. Every day is a good day. That's why David wrote, "This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" No matter how bad the day looks at the beginning, it's a good day to be glad! When he died out on Calvary, it looked like a bad day; but God was still working his plan! When Mary and the women came to the tomb, they were expecting to have another bad day. They didn't know that God had taken what was supposed to be a bad day and turned it into a good day! Early Sunday morning, God took the sting out of death! Early Sunday morning, God removed victory from the grave! Early Sunday morning, he arose from the Grave with all power in his hands! One day he was in the grave, but the next day he was alive! What a difference a day makes!
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