Three days after Jesus Christ was placed in the tomb, a few women returned there with spices to honor Him. When they arrived, they were startled to find that the stone guarding the tomb had been rolled away and Christ's body was not there. Two angels approached them and announced in Luke 24:6, “He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.”
Despite having spent a significant amount of time with Christ during His ministry and likely having heard His prophecies about His Resurrection several times, after only three days, they had forgotten about this miraculous promise. So what about us? How often do we forget the promises that have been made to us by Jesus Christ? What can we do to help us remember Christ and be inspired in our day-to-day activities by His promises?
1. Remember that Christ walks among us. On the same day that the women found the tomb empty, two of His disciples were walking along the road to Emmaus when Jesus approached them. They did not recognize Christ while they were speaking with Him, even when He again reminded them of all the prophecies that would be fulfilled. It wasn’t until they arrived at Emmaus and were eating dinner with Him that they saw Him bless and break bread and their eyes were opened. This act was similar to what He had done during the Last Supper, and it reminds us that we need to take time out of our busy lives to have quiet moments of reflection. It is in these moments that we can truly see Christ when He sits beside us.
2. Remember that Christ reaches out to us. In the same chapter of Luke 24, Christ appeared to His Apostles. At first they were frightened, but He invited them to reach out and touch His hands and His feet. He didn’t hesitate at all to help build their faith in His promises. He also ate broiled fish and honeycomb to show them that He was not a ghost or a figment of their imagination, but rather their same friend they had spent so much time with. In the same way, we can be confident that Christ still lives and reaches out His sacred hands to us as a friend we can confide in and believe in.
3. Remember that Christ’s Resurrection gives us the hope of overcoming death and sickness.On the third day, Christ’s spirit was reunited with His body, which opened the same door to us. Because He was resurrected, we too can live again. Not only will we live forever after death, but our bodies will also be restored in their perfect condition. We will be reunited with our loved ones just as Christ returned to His Apostles. As we all go through the trials of sickness or even death, we can be confident that one day all of these pains will be replaced with health and happiness because of what Christ did for each of us.
Christ is the way, the truth, and the light. In the routine of our daily lives it is easy to forget His sacrifice and His promises to us. But if we take moments for quiet reflection on His teachings to remember that He reaches out to us each day, we can know that someday not too long from now, all death and sickness will be eliminated because of Him.