Morning Prayer - He Is Not Here, He Has Risen

Good morning, Lord Jesus,

Risen King! I come to you this morning, still shrouded in darkness, much like that morning when Mary Magdalene came to your tomb.

In my own heart, there is sometimes darkness, too, full of fear and uncertainty. Like her, I too sometimes cry out in panic at the sight of emptiness and hardship: “They have taken the Lord… and I don’t know where they have put him.”

My mind cannot understand; my heart is confused.

Let me run to you

Lord, give me the heart of the disciples who ran immediately to the tomb. Give me the courage of Peter, who entered the unknown, and the heart of John, who loved you so much that he sought you without hesitation.

May they lead me to your tomb, which is not a place of ending, but of a new beginning. There, they did not find a body, but signs. The strips of linen, lying there, and the burial cloth, carefully folded in a place by itself. These were not signs of theft or haste, but signs of peace, order, and fulfillment.

Lord, I ask you, open my eyes to such signs in my own life. Help me to recognize your ordering hand in the emptiness I sometimes feel, the hand that sets all things in their proper place.

Grant that I too, upon entering the mystery of your absence, might ultimately “see and believe,” even before I understand everything. Give me the grace for my gaze upon the pierced Savior to always lead to faith in your resurrection.

Your Word is true

The angels announced the truth that transcended all human logic.

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:6)

“‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.’” (Mark 16:6)

“In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!'” (Luke 24:5-6)

Like Peter, I too want to run and be filled with wonder.

“Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” (Luke 24:12)

Lord, remind me that you foretold all of this. Your Word was fulfilled to the last detail, for you are God, and your promises are eternal.

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21)

Your victory over death was written long ago.