So the women . . . ran to tell his disciples. Matthew 28:8
The modern-day marathon is based on the story of a Greek messenger, Pheidippides. According to legend, in 490 bc he ran approximately twenty-five miles (forty kilometers) from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks’ victory against their formidable foe, the invading Persians. Today, people run marathons for the personal satisfaction of an athletic achievement, but Pheidippides had a greater purpose behind his effort: each of his steps was run for the sheer joy of delivering good news to his kinsmen!
Some five hundred years later, two women also ran to deliver good news—the most pivotal news in all of history. When Mary and Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb where Jesus had been placed after His crucifixion, they found it empty. An angel told them that Jesus had “risen from the dead” and to “go quickly and tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:7). The women, “afraid yet filled with joy,” ran to tell the disciples what they’d discovered (v. 8).
May we have the same joyful exuberance at the resurrection of Jesus, and may it invigorate us to share the good news with others. We may not even need to “run” farther than next door to find someone who needs to know about our Savior. He won the battle against death so we might live victoriously with Him forever!
Who shared the good news of Christ’s resurrection with you? How will you share it with others today?
God, I rejoice because of Your victory over death. Thank You for allowing me the privilege of sharing this good news with those You’ve put in my life.
To learn more about the resurrection of Jesus, visit ChristianUniversity.org/CA206.
INSIGHT
While today we typically use the word angel as a catch-all term for any heavenly messenger, the Bible makes distinctions between various heavenly beings. For example, cherubim are winged beastlike creatures that guard the boundaries between the earthly and heavenly realm, most notably after Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). On the other hand, angels—literally, messengers—aren’t described in the Bible as having wings and can sometimes take the form of a human being (Hebrews 13:2). They not only function as messengers (for example, Gabriel in Luke 1:26–38) but perform missions on God’s behalf toward His plan of redemption for all of creation (Matthew 28:2–7).