Devotions this week are based on Week 7 Temptation to Triumph: Triumph: Death Defeated! (WATCH HERE)
Matthew 27:57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Matthew 28:1-6 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 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. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
The women came to the tomb carrying the weight of defeat. Jesus had died. Hope seemed gone. The story felt finished. Matthew tells us they came simply “to look at the tomb.”
That is what defeat does. It draws our eyes to what is over, what is broken, what cannot be changed.
We all have experienced that feeling. It might be a relationship that didn’t work, a decision we regret, or a situation that feels out of our control. Losing leaves us stuck staring at what we cannot fix wishing we could.
The cross was not symbolic. It was final. Jesus had died. According to many before him, he would stay dead.
It’s what happens as a result of sin. Romans reminds us that “the wages of sin is death.” That is the reality when we live apart from Christ. Death is not just physical. It is spiritual. It shows up in guilt, separation form God, and hopelessness.
For the women at the tomb, they would expect nothing different. Death was final. Jesus was dead.
Suddenly everything shifts. The ground shakes. The stone moves. The angel appears and speaks. “He is not here; He has risen!” Jesus’ resurrection interrupts the story. What looked final was not final. What felt like defeat was not defeat.
Sin and death were not going to have the final word. LIFE would!
Think of a game where your team is down with seconds left. Everyone assumes it is over. Then something unexpected happens. A last-second shot goes in. The outcome changes instantly. What felt certain is suddenly overturned.
That is Easter. Only this is not a game. This is life and death. And Jesus wins!
What feels final is not final when Jesus is involved.
Reflect: Where in your life do you feel like the story is already over? What would it look like to invite Jesus into that place of defeat today?
Prayer: Lord, you win! You carried my sin to the cross. You died in my place. YOU came out of the tomb alive. You win! Remind me today that victory wasn’t just for Easter Sunday, but for every day that follows, which includes today! Amen.