Go and Tell — TDW Kids

Go Quickly and Tell

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A message to carry. At the tomb the angel said to the women, “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead” (Matthew 28:7). The first people sent to tell that Jesus was alive were these women.

Who they were. Luke names some of them: “It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles” (Luke 24:10). Many of them had followed Jesus from Galilee and helped Him (Luke 8:1-3).

Faithful to the end. These women had watched the cross “from afar” (Mark 15:40). They saw where He was buried. Now they were the first to hear that He had risen.

Fear and great joy. “So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word” (Matthew 28:8). They ran, because news like this could not wait.

Jesus met them. “And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him” (Matthew 28:9). They held His feet. He was not a ghost. He had a real body.

My brethren. Then Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me” (28:10). Brethren means brothers. Only days before, the disciples had run away: “Then they all forsook Him and fled” (Mark 14:50). Jesus still called them His brothers.

Not ashamed. The Bible says of Jesus, “He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). If you belong to Him, He is not ashamed of you either.

Mary's message. John tells us that Jesus sent Mary Magdalene with a message too: “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’ ” (John 20:17). Because of Jesus, His Father becomes our Father.

She told them. “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her” (John 20:18). She simply told what she had seen and heard.

The good news. This is the news the women carried: Jesus died for our sins, and God raised Him from the dead. Everyone who turns from sin and trusts Him is forgiven and belongs to God.

What this means for you. Jesus still sends ordinary people to tell about Him. You do not have to be grown up or important. Tell what you know about Jesus, the way these women did.

Go quickly. The angel's words in Matthew are urgent: “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you” (Matthew 28:7).

Apangello. The women “ran to bring His disciples word” (28:8). The phrase translates apangello (say: ah-pang-GEL-loh), to bring back a report, to announce what you have seen. Mark uses the same word for Mary Magdalene: “She went and told those who had been with Him” (Mark 16:10). It belongs to the same family of words as messenger and good news.

The women from Galilee. Luke lists “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them” (Luke 24:10). He had described women “who provided for Him from their substance” (Luke 8:3). They had been “looking on from afar” at the cross (Mark 15:40), and two of them “observed where He was laid” (Mark 15:47). They saw His death, His burial and His empty tomb.

The first witnesses. God chose these women, who had stayed near Jesus at the cross and at the tomb, to carry the first news of the resurrection.

Held by the feet. “Behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him” (28:9). They touched a real body, they worshiped Him, and He welcomed their worship.

My brethren. “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren” (28:10). The disciples had deserted Him: “Then they all forsook Him and fled” (Mark 14:50). The risen Lord called them brethren. “He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11).

My Father and your Father. To Mary He said, “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’ ” (John 20:17). Through His death and resurrection, the disciples were brought into His own family. He would soon return to the Father, and He wanted them to know where they now belonged.

Seen and heard. “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her” (John 20:18). A witness tells what she has seen and heard. That is all Mary did, and it was enough.

The message. The news the women carried is the gospel: Christ “died for our sins,” He “was buried,” and He “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Through Him, sinners who believe are forgiven and become children of God.

For you. If you have met the risen Jesus, you have something to report. Bring word of what He has done, simply and truthfully, the way the women did.

When They Did Not Believe

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Sad followers. When Mary Magdalene found the disciples, they “mourned and wept” (Mark 16:10). Their Teacher had died, and their hope seemed gone.

They did not believe. “And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe” (Mark 16:11).

Like idle tales. Luke says the same about the women's report: “And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11). Idle tales are silly stories or nonsense.

They had been told. Jesus had told them more than once that He would die and rise again. But Luke says, “But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them” (Luke 18:34).

Why it was hard. The disciples had seen Jesus die. The news seemed too good to be true. Their unbelief came from sorrow, not from hating Jesus.

The women told the truth anyway. The disciples did not believe, but the news was still true. A true message does not become false because people doubt it.

Not ashamed. Paul later wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). When people laugh at the good news, it is still God's power.

Jesus did the convincing. The women did their part by telling. Jesus Himself would soon show Himself to the disciples, and their unbelief would turn to faith.

Many witnesses. Later, Paul listed some of the people who saw the risen Lord: “He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:5-6). Cephas is another name for Peter.

From doubt to witness. The same men who called the women's words idle tales later stood up in Jerusalem. Peter said, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32).

The gospel. The message is the same today. Jesus died for our sins, and God raised Him from the dead. Everyone who turns from sin and believes in Him is saved.

What this means for you. Some people may not believe you when you tell them about Jesus. Keep telling the truth kindly, pray for them, and trust Jesus to work in their hearts.

Mourning. Mary found the disciples “as they mourned and wept” (Mark 16:10). “And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe” (16:11).

Leros. Luke records the same response to the women: “And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11). Idle tales is leros (say: LAY-ros), silly talk or nonsense.

Hidden from them. Jesus had told the twelve plainly that He would be killed, “And the third day He will rise again” (Luke 18:33). Luke adds, “But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken” (Luke 18:34).

The unbelief of grief. These were not enemies trying to disprove Jesus. They were friends who had watched their hope die. Grief can make good news sound impossible.

Evidence for us. The disciples did not expect a resurrection, so they did not invent one. Their first response to the news was to call it nonsense. Only meeting the risen Jesus changed their minds.

Faithful witnesses. The women kept to their report even when the apostles dismissed it (Luke 24:10-11). Truth does not depend on how many people accept it at first.

Not ashamed. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The power is in the message, not in the person who carries it.

The list grows. Paul later wrote that the risen Christ “was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:5-6). Then “He was seen by James, then by all the apostles” (15:7).

Witnesses. Within weeks, Peter stood in Jerusalem and said, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). The men who once called it idle tales would not stop telling it.

For us. The message is the gospel: Jesus died for our sins, and God raised Him. “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

For you. When people doubt the gospel, do not lose heart. Tell the truth with kindness and patience, pray for them, and leave the convincing to the risen Lord.

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