There aren’t many days that noticeably change the world. In my lifetime I would count 9/11, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and perhaps a few more. Even so, today we conduct our business much as we did before those events.

One morning did change everything—forever. The disciples were young and perhaps naïve enough to believe that the itinerant teacher from Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah. They followed their Lord as He crisscrossed Judea, drawing large crowds who hung on His words and were mesmerized by His miracles. They could hardly believe that they, a rough band of misfits and fishermen, had been chosen to lead the revolution.

Then one afternoon the dream died. Just when victory was within their grasp, the whole plan was sabotaged from the inside. Jesus seemed blindsided by Judas’ betrayal, and He went down without a fight. As the crowd taunted Him to prove He was a king, Jesus cried out in despair to the Father He had claimed was always with Him (Matthew 27:46).

The disciples were devastated. How could they have been such fools? They were ashamed and afraid, for the authorities would be searching for them next. They hid for most of 2 days, entirely clueless about what to do, when they heard the remarkable news that Jesus was alive! (Matthew 28:8).

The disciples were dumbstruck with joy, and they quickly learned to use that resurrection morning to reinterpret the history of the world. As Peter explained to the marveling crowd, the suffering that Jesus endured was precisely what “the prophets had foretold about the Messiah” (Acts 3:18). Jesus had delivered His people, and in a bigger way than anyone could have imagined.

One morning changed the world. Has it changed yours?

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Kings 19:1-21