Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. Now after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. And they went away and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them, either.

We are often skeptical of things that seem “too good to be true.” As the news spread about Jesus’s resurrection, a common response was repeated: disbelief. God had worked so far outside of the way people expected that, as people heard about others’ experiences with the risen Jesus, they did not believe. It was easier to believe that it was a story those people had made up than viewing it as a factual account. But as people witnessed Jesus themselves, they could no longer deny the truth—Jesus was alive. Meeting the resurrected Christ changed everything.

Have you experienced rejection when seeking to share the hope of Christ with someone? This can be discouraging and avoiding that rejection is often the reason we don’t share the gospel. When Jesus is a far off, foreign idea, it is easy to deny He is who He said or that He has done what He promised. It is only when God moves in our hearts and connects the dots in our minds that we not only hear the truth of Jesus but experience it for ourselves. As we do, the natural response is to go and tell others so they might encounter Him too.

• What parts of the gospel feel too good to be true? How have you trusted God with those things?
• What are some ways you have experienced Jesus? How has that changed your relationship with Him?
• Pray and thank God that Jesus is alive and with us each day.