“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. (2) 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. (3) His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: (4) And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. (5) And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. (6) He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:1-6)
You think you’ve had a bad few days, imagine what the disciples and these women have gone through. Three days ago, their hope died. It was crucified on a cross as they watched their Friend, the One who was to be their Savior and Redeemer, take his final excruciating breath. They heard Him say, “…Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit…” and they watched as He “gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:46)
This particular morning finds the two women named Mary walking to the tomb of Jesus. They aren’t running there with excitement and expectation. Instead, each step is filled with painful grief and sorrow. The distance they walked felt like a hundred miles and the closer they got, the heavier their grief became.
Why are they there? Luke 24 tells us that they brought spices that would be tucked into the folds of Jesus’ burial clothes. This practice was done to help fend off the odors of a decaying body. These women were there to perform a sacred duty to a deceased loved one. What they found took their breath away and filled their minds with confusion. Consider the scene.
The massive stone has been rolled away. “Two men” (Luke 24) in shining garments are standing there. The Roman soldiers are passed out around the tomb. Talk about sensory overload! The Lord’s messengers broke the silence with those powerful words, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
Jesus had told anyone who would listen that He was not only going to die but was going to rise again after three days and nights. Didn’t anyone listen? Or did they just not understand? In a way, the Roman government understood better than the disciples. In order to keep the disciples from staging a fake resurrection, they at least sealed the tomb and placed a squadron of guards to watch over the tomb. They
became the eyewitnesses of the angel of Lord descending from Heaven and it shook them up!
Why the earthquake? Some would say this was necessary to move the mammoth stone. But do you really think that the God of the resurrection from the dead needs an earthquake to move a stone? The Scripture doesn’t tell us so I’m going to make a sanctified suggestion. When God wants to get the attention of the world, He will sometimes “shake” it. Notice how often earthquakes happen in Scripture, the reasons, and the results.
Prophetically, some of God’s judgment will be accompanied during the Tribulation Period by earthquakes. Revelation 11:13 says, “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” Earthquakes are mentioned at least five times in this book!
Think about that resurrection morning earthquake for a moment. It was a “great” earthquake. The Greek word is megas and in American culture, anything big is mega. This was a mega quake and it would have been felt in the room where the disciples were grieving. Didn’t anyone in that group think, “Something big just happened. Maybe we should check it out.” Nope. They just wallowed in their grief and didn’t even believe the women when they came back and said that Jesus was missing.
“It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. (11) And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” (Luke 24:10-11)
Eventually, disbelief turns to belief. Jesus IS risen. Jesus IS alive. Hope LIVES. Faith is NOT in vain. The miracles of this resurrection morning have set Christianity on fire with a passion to share the Gospel. As the hymn says, “He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today… You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart! The powerful truth of this is eloquently stated by a little girl in Sunday School.
“McKenzie wasn’t trying to start a theological debate, she just wanted to make a point about Jesus’ resurrection. Her Sunday school teacher had tried to encourage her class with the assurance that Jesus is everywhere. But for McKenzie, that didn’t sound right. So she said, “I know one place where Jesus isn’t.” The teacher curiously replied, “Oh, really? Where is that?”
“The bright little girl declared, “He’s not in the grave!””1
1https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/where-jesus-isn-t
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