The Resurrection

The Resurrection

Jesus said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." (Luke 9:22)

It was Sunday, the third day, but everyone had forgotten what He said about the third day, or didn't understand it.  Dawn was approaching.  Most of the citizens of Jerusalem were sleeping, tired from the celebration of Passover, which had taken place the day before.  Many of them had celebrated hard.  They wanted to get the image of Jesus and the events of Friday out of their minds.  Some had succeeded in forgetting the entire incident, by now.  After all, it had happened two days ago.  It was like yesterday's newspaper.  Much had taken place in their everyday lives, since then.  Besides, there were always plenty of self-styled prophets coming down the pike.  There would be others. But there were those who had not forgotten, those who wanted to go to the tomb to give the Master a proper burial.   When Jesus was taken down from the Cross, it was too late to prepare His Body for burial, as sundown was quickly approaching.  It was Friday, the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.  According to the Law, they would have to wait until after the Sabbath (sundown Saturday).  Joseph of Arimathea stepped forward and offered the tomb, he had bought for himself.  They placed the Lord's Body in the tomb.  But it was a hurried affair. Now the Sabbath was over.  Three women headed for the tomb.  They were Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James and John, and Salome.  They brought perfumed oils to anoint the Body; they would now properly give honor to their Lord Jesus.  They wondered about the huge stone which had been placed in front of the tomb.  How would they move it?  It was too heavy for the three of them.  Maybe the soldiers would still be there.  Would they help?  That was a toss-up.  But they would have faith; God would get the stone removed.  All they needed was to trust.

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