As the two Mary's approached
the tomb where Jesus had been laid following His
agonizing death on Calvary's cross..
..they expected to find what any person would have
expected to find: a dead body buried in a tomb. That was
the order of things. There could have been no other
expectation within the hearts of those women at the
sunrise of that morning except to find Jesus dead and
buried. Death had won. Life had lost. The devil had
succeeded. Jesus had failed. What other meaning could
there be on that morning?
Yet
as the women slowly made their way to perform one last
act of love for their Lord, the earth trembled and the
soldiers shook and became like dead men as an angel of
God rolled the stone away. Jesus was no longer dead but
alive! Death had been conquered by life! Darkness had
been overcome by light! The might of Rome lay quaking on
the ground in fear driven to its knees by the power of
God! The hatred of the Pharisees lay in broken pieces
crushed by the love of God! The devil raged in
frustration defeated by the Son of God! "He is not here;
He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place
where He lay." The stone had been rolled away!
Easter day stands at the heart of the Christian gospel
because God not only rolled Jesus' stone away. He can
roll ours away! Easter is not simply about Jesus'
resurrection. It is about ours. It is not only about
Jesus' defeat of death and the devil. It is about the
promise of ours. He rolled the stone away then. He still
rolls the stones away now!
Because Easter's story is about real life, real
suffering, real death and real resurrection we must be
about the business of touching and liberating real
people from real tombs. For some their tomb is
constructed of grief from the death of a loved one, for
others a thought life filled with fear, anxiety, doubt
and despair. For still others it is constructed of
physical suffering. For still more it is made of
self-destructive habits or addictions. Some find
themselves buried in loneliness and without love. Others
are covered by an impenetrable sense of defeat as
cherished relationships have fallen apart or a life-long
dream has evaporated. For many others their tomb is
being locked inside a continuing emptiness about why
they are alive, what their purpose might be and where
their happiness might be found.
I do not come to you with an
intricate system of psychological counseling aimed to
help you get in touch with your inner child. I do not
come with a 12-step program designed to free you from
the darkness of your present life. I do not even come
with a complex theological treatise created to explain
the mysteries of God. I come bearing the same Gospel
message the angel gave to those women. "He is not here;
he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place
where he lay." And I come to tell you that the fact of
Jesus' resurrection has become the liberating power of
millions of lives for over 2,000 years. There isn't a
habit, addiction or emotion Jesus hasn't healed and
can't heal now. He still rolls the stones away!
I
give you the same invitation the angel extended to the
women. "Come and see the place where He lay... He has
risen from the dead." Then I invite you to join Him. Let
His victory be your victory. Let His power become your
power. He is risen and so can you. He rolled the stone
away then and He still rolls the stones away now! (Taken
from iExalt Insider!)
