Not Here

Today's Bible Reading:  MARK 15:42-16-11; MATTHEW 27:57-28:5; LUKE 23:50-24:12; JOHN 19:38-18

Matthew 28:6

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

The throes of Calvary turn to triumph at the tomb. The grave could not hold Him. The stone could not stop Him. Death could not defeat Him. His death was transformed into Life. The one they relinquished to the grave rose from it. Jesus was not there, He had risen. Death was defeated. Life sprang from the sacrificed one. Jesus was resurrected. He was not there.

The women came to the tomb early on Sunday morning to finish the burial process that they had hurriedly begun on Friday. They were heartbroken. They were still grieving over the death of Jesus. The hurt from the pain of the cross was still present. Their love for their Lord led them to the tomb. Their compassion for Christ brought them to His grave. It was to be their time of closure and goodbye. Yet their task was interrupted. Their mission was disrupted by an open tomb. The startled soldiers had scattered. The Messiah was missing. They were distraught by His disappearance. Uncertainty emerged, fear engulfed them and disillusionment descended upon them. Everything was out of sorts or so it seemed.

Jesus was no longer there. He was miraculously missing. His body was gone. He had been removed from the grave. His body had not been misplaced, or stolen, but He was gone. He was no longer held in the tomb. He was no longer sealed within the sepulcher. The stone was rolled away. The grave couldn’t hold Him. The stone couldn’t keep Him. The soldiers couldn’t stop Him. He was not there. He was gone.

Yet hope arose in the midst of their heartache. They were welcomed by a heavenly messenger. It was not what they were expecting. Yet what they encountered was beyond all their expectations. The angel consoled their concerns. He arrests their alarms. He explained the events that were unfolding before them. .

They discovered the reason for His absence and the empty tomb as the angel announced to the bewildered women, “He is not here, for he has risen.” Their despair was soon turned to delight. He had risen. He was resurrected. He was alive. It was good news. It was the most amazing news. Christ their Lord had risen from the dead. Their dashed hopes were dispelled. Their sorrow had been replaced by jubilation. Jesus was alive. Defiant death was now finally and forever defeated. Its grip on humanity was eternally relinquished and released by His resurrection. As it was then, so it is now, He has risen.

Today rejoice in the fact that Jesus has risen from the dead never to die again. Praise the Lord that the resurrection of Jesus secures the eternal hope of the resurrection of all us who put our hope in Him. Thank God that nothing, or no one could keep Jesus enclosed in His stony sarcophagus. Praise the Lord that the grave could not hold Him, the soldiers could not stop Him and death could not defeat Him. Rejoice that He is your risen Savior.