How do you respond when someone tells you about a new mouth-watering place to eat or a ‘must-see’ movie?

Sometimes, we’re all in and eager to check out their recommendation. Other times, we make note of it or politely nod, planning to completely ignore their suggestion.

Now, how would you respond if someone told you they saw the Messiah!?

Three days after Jesus’ death, women came to the tomb and were greeted by an angel who explained Jesus had risen and said, “Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:6b-7a). As they were on their way, Jesus met the women and reminded them, “Go and tell my brothers…” (Matthew 28:10).

How did the disciples respond? “When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she [Mary Magdalene] had seen him, they did not believe it” (Mark 16:11). The gospel of John inserts that two disciples ran to the tomb. After looking inside, we find John’s reaction. “He saw and believed” (John 20:8b).

What made the difference? Experience.

But can we experience Jesus? Today, we can experience the Lord in many ways. Reading the Bible, watching Christian videos like The Chosen, and listening to sermons or Biblical teaching all provide such opportunities. The Holy Spirit and other believers can speak to our heart as well, but we need to have open ears and softened hearts. In other words, we need to make the effort to ‘come and see.’

Then we have a responsibility to ‘go and tell.’ We can’t keep the Good News to ourselves. Later, when religious leaders warned Peter and John to keep quiet about Jesus, they replied, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

May we follow their example. Once we ‘come and see,’ let’s ‘go and tell.’