O glorious day!

He is not here; for He is risen. — Matthew 28:6

It was the day after. My favorite team had just lost its final game and the dream of a championship was now over. It was cold out and a bit gloomy as I got in the car to go to work. None of this should have mattered much, but it was shaping up to be a blue Monday.

But then a song came on the radio that transformed my perspective. It was Casting Crowns singing “Glorious Day.” “One day they led [Christ] up Calvary’s mountain, one day they nailed Him to die on a tree.” Nothing encouraging yet. “Suffering anguish, despised and rejected” — more bad news. But then the song describes the good news of Christ’s resurrection and His victory over death.

Out of that worst of days — out of the noontime darkness on that Jerusalem hillside — has come the only true hope for mankind. Because Jesus “took the nails for me,” as the song says, “He carried my sins far away.” And one day He’s coming back — “O glorious day!”

Perhaps today did not start out well for you. Maybe you face a host of trouble that threatens to turn this into a day of despair. Turn your attention to Jesus. Review what He did for you at Calvary and how He conquered death by His resurrection: “He is not here; for He is risen”! (Matt. 28:6). That can make any day a glorious day! — Dave Branon

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away; Rising, He justified freely forever; One day He’s coming — O glorious day! — Chapman

READ: Matthew 27:27-31;28:1-6

Christ’s empty tomb fills us with hope.