“He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 16:7)
All of us who have worked in business have been involved in cancelled meetings, whether the meeting was cancelled on us or we cancelled the meeting ourselves. And there has undoubtedly been at least one time in our lives when a boss or coworker said to us, “Where were you? I sent you an invite!” And we realize that we have completely missed a meeting that did take place and that we were supposed to attend.
But there is One who never misses a meeting . . . and His name is Jesus Christ.
Not long before He was arrested and crucified, Jesus told His disciples that He would meet them in Galilee after His resurrection (Matthew 26:32). The women went to the tomb on that glorious morning, saw that the stone had been rolled away, and looked in. They saw an angel dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side of the tomb. They were alarmed, trembling and bewildered, as you might imagine. Then the angel told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and gone ahead of them into Galilee, where He had promised to meet them after His resurrection. Even death itself could not keep Jesus from His intended meeting.
You and I may miss meetings for any number of reasons, but make no mistake, the Master never misses a meeting! Jesus has promised to meet you in a myriad of ways in your daily living. He has promised to meet you continually in prayer. The throne of grace is always accessible to those who approach. He has promised to meet you in His Word. The Bible is “living and active” and is always available to meet you in your deepest place of need, whenever and wherever you are. He has promised to meet you in church. Corporate worship is one of God’s special meeting places where we meet with our Master.
But these are not the only meeting places ordained by our Master! We expect to meet our Master when we are on our knees in fervent prayer. We expect to meet our Master when we are meditating on and marinating in the Word of God. We expect to meet our Master when we come to His house to praise and worship His mighty name. We quickly give thanks to Him when we get good things happen: the promotion at work . . . seeing a beloved friend you hadn’t seen for years . . . deliverance from some health issue.
But Jesus often meets us in places we would never expect. Perhaps it is a divine appointment in the checkout line at the grocery store . . . you know the one: the shortest line with the longest wait! Maybe it is at a sporting event or a social gathering when you bump into someone you had not seen for years . . . and you hadn’t been missing that person all that much! Possibly you are at the doctor’s office . . . and the test results are not what you wanted to hear.
Now notice the words in our verse today, Mark 16:7—“He is going ahead of you.” Jesus always goes ahead of you. Jesus is always first in fellowship with His family of faith . . . and if you have trusted in Christ for your salvation, you are part of that family! His strength goes ahead of you. His grace goes ahead of you. His mercy goes ahead of you, because your Master never missed a meeting . . . just as He told you.
Perhaps it is time for you to look more closely for your Master in your meetings.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 