REJOICE!
“Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me” (Matthew 28:10).
There is a lapse between Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Peter and John and her meeting with the other women. ‘Mary had not heard the good news. She went to Peter and John with the sorrowful message, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him.” The disciples hurried to the tomb, and found it as Mary had said.”—The Desire of Ages, ch. 82, p. 789. They had not believed Mary’s report. Although she had abandoned her past and served her Savior, the disciples did not consider her worthy of trust, or the news just seemed too unbelievable to them. “Even when the women declared that they had seen the Lord, the disciples would not believe.
They thought them under an illusion. “—The Desire of Ages, ch. 82, p. 794.
Are there those who doubt your testimony? Do they not consider you trustworthy? Keep doing right, just remember that Jesus believes in you. That woman, former prostitute, formerly possessed by the devil, former adulteress, was the one to whom Jesus gave the greatest of all privileges: to be the first to see Him after He was resurrected (see Mark 16:9).
The greeting of Jesus, ‘Rejoice!” (Matthew 28:9), is in the original Greek the word chairâ, with emphasis on happiness and extreme joyfulness.* It was used as a greeting at the beginning of a letter to wish health well-being, and prosperity to the reader, or to end a letter as a happy, cheerful good-bye, full of hope. It was greeetin used by the angel who announced to Mary, mother of Jesus, her virginal conception (see Luke 1:28). It was the greeting used by Judas when he was going to betray Jesus: ‘Greetings, Rabbi!” (Matthew 26:49) md by the soldiers when they mocked Him during the crucifixion: “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29). In other words, there was rejoicing when Jesus was going to be born, when He was about to complete His mission, when He finished His work on the cross, and when He Himself announced His resurrection. Jesus also says to you, “Rejoice! Be glad, be joyful. ”Whether you are about to receive wonderful news, as did the mother of Jesus, whether you are being betrayed the way Judas betrayed Jesus, whether someone is mocking you they way the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus, or whether you are getting a new start, rejoice! Be joyful and happy!
The women fell at the feet of their risen Savior. “So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him” (Matthew 28:9). Worship and reverence are all that we can offer to a divine being such as Jesus.
‘Blue Letter Bible, Lexicon: Strong’s G5463 —chairō. at https://www.blueletierbib1c.org/1cxicon/g5ä43/ rvr60/tr/0-1/. consulted in March. 2022.
www.meditacionesdiarias.com
https://twitter.com/meditacionesdi1
http://www.instagram.com/meditacionesdiarias7
Taken from: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2023
“DAUGHTER OF MINE” Do Not Be Afraid
From: Arsenia Fernandez-Uckele
Collaborators: Angelica Cuate & Esteban Cortes