In the Footsteps of Jesus #22

^{Scripture: Matthew 28:1-15}

¹Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." ⁸So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

¹¹While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. ¹²And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers ¹³and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' ¹⁴And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." ¹⁵So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

EMPTY!

There is only a simple wooden sign with the words: “He is not here! For He is risen!” to mark the site of Christ’s resurrection. The tomb is tucked away within an enclosed garden in the heart of the city of Jerusalem. Yet within those walls the noise of the traffic seems to disappear. We had returned to the tomb for Sunday morning worship. The crowd that gathered was so small; a few dozen people at best. Afterwards I remarked to the man who had lead the service of my surprise at finding so few worshippers here.

What he said was so simple, yet so profound. “What did you expect? Its only an empty hole in a hillside.” I pondered that thought for awhile and today I find great wisdom in his words. Its true. What makes the tomb so important is that it is empty. Jesus is not there. He is alive and let loose in His world.

That was the lesson of the angel at the tomb. Yes, come see the place where he was. But then go quickly and tell the Good News. And the Good News is that Jesus is gone ahead into the Galilees of our lives waiting for us to catch up with him. There is no need to dwell on the emptiness, when the fullness of the resurrected Christ is available to us!

Question: What does the empty tomb mean to you?

Prayer: Lord, fill us with resurrection power! Through Christ. Amen.