After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
Matthew 28:1-4
New International Version (NIV)
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Matthew 28:5-7 (NIV)
“Jesus is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:8-10 (NIV)
Prior to Easter, our plans for life were essentially to gather up as many good days as possible before we returned to the grave. The problem with that plan, though, was that it wasn’t life. It was just the postponement of death. Since Easter, death has been removed as the ending of our story. Now it is just another chapter, and it is certainly not the last one. This means our future is open-ended.
M. Craig Barnes, An Extravagant Mercy, p. 189