ヨハネによる福音書20:1-10 John 20:1-10,

Today is Easter Sunday, a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his death on the cross. About 2000 years ago, Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday, around the time of the Passover festival in the Jewish nation. In the morning of third day after his death, Mary Magdalene and some other women who believed in Jesus went to Jesus’ tomb. They did this to apply spices and ointments to Jesus’ dead body. Mary Magdalene was a woman who had been possessed by evil spirits and had been saved by Jesus.

At that time, tombs were made by digging a hole in the side of a rock and placing the dead body inside. The entrance was then sealed with a large round stone. However, when Mary Magdalene and the others arrived at the tomb, the stone that had been covering the entrance had been rolled away, and the entrance to the tomb was open. And the body of Jesus, which should have been inside, was gone. The women were at a loss and wondering what to do when two angels appeared, dressed in dazzling garments, and said, “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:6-7). Indeed, Jesus had said as much to his disciples.

Mary Magdalene and the other women returned to the disciples and reported this. However, perhaps because they did not understand what the angel had said, Mary Magdalene said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” When they heard this, Peter and John, two of Jesus’ disciples, went to the tomb and looked inside. As Mary Magdalene had said, Jesus’ body was gone. All that was left in the tomb was the linen cloths that had wrapped Jesus’ body and the face cloth that had covered his head.

So, what happened to Jesus’ body? Was it stolen by someone? Or did his dead body begin to move like a ghost? No, that’s not what happened. Jesus’ body was resurrected as a body of eternal life. However, neither Peter nor John understood the significance of this. As it says in verse 9, “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” This was because something completely new had happened that they had never experienced before.

What would you think if you were Mary Magdalene, Peter or John and experienced the same thing? You probably can’t believe that someone who has died can come back to life. And you probably think that it’s impossible for someone to come back to life not just as a living person, but as a person with eternal life who will never die! But Jesus really did resurrect in a body of eternal life! On the first Easter morning, an incredible and wonderful thing happened: Jesus, who had died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected in a body of eternal life.