Holy Week 2023- Easter Sunday

 Holy Week- Sunday

Easter Sunday of Holy Week is all about Jesus.

               With all the pain, sorrow, and darkness of Friday, Sunday began quietly and calmly. Some of the women gathered together early in the morning to go to the tomb and anoint the body of Jesus with perfumes and spices. In all the hurry on Friday, there hadn’t been enough time to properly prepare the body for burial with the Sabbath approaching. As the women headed to the tomb, questions must have been filling their heads: Who will move the stone? Will the guards allow the women to see the body? What will the smell be like?

               As the women entered the area where the garden tomb was, the women are surprised as the guards are gone and the stone is rolled, and an angel in their place. Fear and confusion filled them: “But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7 ESV) As the women peered into the empty tomb, they found it just as the angel had said. Then they left to reveal what the angel had said to them to the disciples.

               The resurrection narrative preaches such an incredible truth that you can easily miss if you don’t understand the details.

If someone just invented this story about Jesus’ resurrection in order to make it convincing to a Jewish audience, they did a poor job. The fact that the women were the first eye witnesses to the resurrected Jesus is unheard of. The testimony of a woman was not allowed in Jewish cases of law. It was considered untrustworthy. If you fabricating a story to astound the people of an empty tomb and a missing body, you would not have told the story this way.

               Another thing that is often overlooked are the missing Roman guards. These men were charged with the task of guarding the tomb, yet in the morning, they are no where to be found. This is not the character of hardened fighting soldiers. The Romans were the elite fighting force of the day. They are not a bunch of farmers or merchants who could fit into some armor. They were trained killers! Roman soldiers lives were at stake when they performed their duties. If they fell asleep on the job or abandoned their post, they would often be executed. Matthew’s Gospel gives us some clarity on what happened to these hardened soldiers: ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers ¹³ and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. (Matthew 28:12-15 ESV) They were asleep while the disciples stole the body? Really? I guess that massive bolder in front of the tomb didn’t make any noise while it was rolled away.

               The last is the motive of the disciples. What motive would they have for stealing the body of Jesus and pretending as if He was risen? Some say that they did it for financial gain. How likely is that? What kind of wealth would they gain pretending His was alive when His dead body was just hidden? If that’s the case, then how did it work out for them? All of them, save possibly John, died tragically at the hands of those who sought to destroy them. They were beheaded, crucified, beaten, and ridiculed. If Jesus’ resurrection was some type of joke or prank, wouldn’t they have recanted before they were put to death? But history teaches us that these men went to the grave believing and preaching that Jesus was truly the resurrected Son of God!

               All of these facts that Scripture records are simply too strong not to be true! Besides, in nearly 2,000 years of Christian history, no one has been able to prove that the resurrection of Jesus didn’t happen! As much hatred as there has always been against Christianity, someone would have been able to produce convincing truths against Jesus if it wasn’t true.

               So, what about you? Do you find these truths convincing or are you seeking more proof? There is more out there; more proof that leads to the conclusion that Jesus is the living God! But don’t just take my word for it, seek Him for yourself.

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13 ESV)