Image from Good Friday worship, St. Luke's UMC, Houston, TX.
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
From Matthew 27: 57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. 62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, "After three days I will rise again.' 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, "He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
Yesterday was a sad day for those who took to heart the pain and suffering of Jesus. If you were in church you may have heard great music and a short meditation on the significance of the day. Some preachers may have gone into more details of the day's painful events; but it's all painfully true. Jesus died. His body had to come down from the cross. And someone had to claim the body to bury it. Most modern prisons have their own cemeteries of those bodies whose families did not claim them. Sad way to die, but Jesus' body was claimed by a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea who wrapped the body in clean linen cloths and buried Jesus in his own tomb in a man-made cave which he secured with a great stone. The discussion among His enemies was not stopped by His death; this passage shows the same scoundrels, the chief priests and Pharisees going before Pilate to ask that Jesus' body be guarded. Notice they call Jesus an "imposter" who had predicted that in three days would rise again. Their fear, besides that He really might do it, was that His disciples might just come and get it out to create the illusion that He really did rise from the dead.
No one can secure a tomb strong enough to prevent God's power from coming in and breaking it loose with new life. And that is what we believe. We wait today for a glorious day of tomorrow when heaven and nature sing along with the Church that Christ the Lord is risen today. Victory is ours!
PRAYER: Lord God, You know what tombs have surrounded us and call to us; some of us have even entered them because of despair and fear, but break forth the great stones and bring new life to us and set us free! This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
