Recorded in the Holy Scriptures in Matthew 28: 1,2 is the following:
" In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it."
What a glorious morning that was. Just imagine the most beautiful sunrise you have ever seen and it would have paled in comparison to the sunrise this resurrection morning because God resurrected his son Jesus Christ and he walked out of that tomb when the stone was rolled away. There have been and continue to be individuals who try to find contradiction in the scriptures which record the events of this morning but there are no contradiction and it is verified by the historians of that day and the Romans as well. You see the Jewish leaders had gone to Roman authorities and asked them to place guards on the tomb so Jesus followers could not steal the body and " claim " he was resurrected as he predicted that he would be. The Roman soldiers when they arrived at the tomb they inspected inside to make sure Jesus body was there because they did not want to be guarding an empty tomb. Satisfied they sealed the tomb. Also, interesting Jesus body was inspected numerous time before burial verifying that he was dead so they settled in for guarding the tomb in shifts around the clock. But, sometime between Saturday after sunset and before the women arrived at the tomb there was a great earthquake. Matthew in his gospel described the earthquake as great. The Greek word for " great " is " mega " which suggest something huge, massive or enormous. This same word is used to describe the stone that blocked the entrance to Jesus tomb. When this happened the Roman soldiers were terrified and fell in a stupor like condition and later ran away from the tomb.
It is interesting that the two Marys had been busy preparing spices and ointments with which to properly anoint Jesus body for burial at the time the Romans sealed the tomb and place guards at the tomb 24 hours a day so they did not know it was guarded. As they walked to the tomb they discussed among themselves about how they would get the stone removed so they could anoint Jesus body. To their surprise when they arrived at the tomb they found the stone rolled away and a dazzling angel sitting on the stone which had been rolled away and when they entered the tomb Jesus body was not there but there was another angel sitting inside the tomb. The Roman soldiers were gone when the women arrived. To say they were confused, amazed and afraid would be an under statement of the highest magnitude. Suddenly the angel who had been sitting on the stone joined the angel inside the tomb and now they were standing there in their shining garments. The women bowed down before the angels and the angels asked them why they were seeking the living among the dead? Isn't that an interesting question? When you come to a tomb you would be expecting to be looking for a corpse not a living person. But the angels had it right. He is not here but is risen. He continued, remember how he spoke to you in Galilee, when he said, " the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,and be crucified, and the third day rise again". At this point they remembered Jesus words. The angels told the women to go and tell Jesus disciples and Peter that he is going to Galilee and they would see him there. The women hurried, I suspect, ran would be a better description to tell what they has seen and experienced. Can you imagine how excited they must have been probably both talking at the same time and the disciples not believing or hearing what they were being told. I can just imagine the disciples thinking to themselves what they are saying just isn't possible and doesn't make sense and sound just like an idle tale. To better explain the women's problem the words " idle tales " come from the Greek word leros which means nonsense, idle talk, babble, or delirium. Regardless of what they thought of the women's story Peter and John got up and took off for the tomb to see for themselves and of course they found the tomb empty.
To better appreciate what Jesus death, burial and resurrection means to us all lets look back to the day Jesus died on the Roman cross. As Jesus hung on the cross the skies increasingly became overcast and eventually becoming darker and darker actually a better description would be very dark. The word used here actually indicate the entire earth was darkened. Several historians talked about a darkness that covered the earth at the time of Jesus crucifixion. Over time critics have tried to explain this event as a eclipse of the sun but this is impossible because the Passover was at the time of a full moon. The Bible indicates that this darkness started at the sixth hour ( noon time ) at the very moment the high priest Caiaphas started the procession into the temple where he would slaughter a pure, spotless Passover lamb. The darkness lasted until the ninth hour the exact time the high priest would be entering the Holy of Hollies to offer the blood of the Passover lamb to cover the sins of the nation ( Israel ). At this very moment Jesus cried out " It is finished ". What happens then is amazing and ever so important to all mankind from that day till now. " The veil in the temple itself rent in twain from top to bottom. " There were two veils inside the temple. One was at the entrance to the Holy Place and the other one at the entrance to the Holy of Hollies. Only the high priest once a year was allowed to enter this area. That second veil was sixty feet high and 30 feet wide and was a hand breadth in thickness. Early Jewish writers indicated the veil was so heavy to took 300 priests to move or manipulate it. No human hands could have done this renting or tearing. Imagine the shock to Caiaphas when he heard and saw the veil being shredded in front of his very eyes and he saw that the veil was gone and the way was open for man to approach God. God was saying the way was now open for man to come to him through the blood of Jesus. It was no longer necessary for the high priest to continually make sacrifices year after year. Jesus took care of that by his blood on the cross. The Holy of Hollies once restricted to the high priest is now open to all of us and we need to take a few moments to enter into the presence of God to worship him and to thank him for his blessings and to make our prayers known to him.
Also, those of us who know Christ as our personal savior need to be diligent in telling the good news to others. I know we often feel uncomfortable telling others about Jesus but we should not feel that way. All we need to do is tell them what he means to us and what he has done for us. That's it. The Holy Spirit will take over from there.
The facts relating to the trial, crucifixion, burial and resurrection are found in detail in the Bible in the gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.
As I always say remember God loves you and so do I.
Grandpa Bill
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