Why The Stone Was Moved

 Ken Davidson -- from Prayer and Praise, April 4, 2018  

      Matthew 28:1-10, Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. ³ His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." ⁸ So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. ⁹ And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

      The key to our faith is the empty tomb. It verifies and validates everything Jesus did and said. Christians have said, "there is no body because there is no grave". The empty tomb is proof of that. But someone has to see the empty tomb and verify it. So, first on the scene are two women. In Mark's gospel, these two women ask, "Who will roll away the stone for us?" It was very large and they could not do that. They cannot get into the tomb and they expect to go in to anoint the dead body they expect to see there. But they cannot get into the tomb without it being rolled back. But the angel has already done this -- problem conveniently solved! Then they are invited to come in and see where He lay. And now they can do that because there is an open entrance. So here we see the first three witnesses of both the empty tomb and the resurrection, the two women and the angel.

      I want to not only speak about why the stone was moved but also why the stone was not moved. The angel did not roll back the stone so Jesus could get out. In Luke's gospel, we have the account on the road to Emmaus when Jesus then sits at the table with His disciples and vanishes from their sight (Luke 24). In John's gospel (Chapter 21), the second time the apostles are gathered and Thomas is there, the doors are shut and Jesus suddenly appears. Jesus has no problem moving around invisibly or any way He wanted once His body was resurrected. And remember what He Himself said, "I have the power of my own body, my own life; I have the power to lay it down, and I (singular) have the power to raise it up again." And that's exactly what He did. He didn't need the angel's help to come and roll the stone for Him. That wasn't for His sake, but for the women's sake.

      And there's one other item that I want to mention that I find quirky but cool, and that is the napkin. In the gospel of John, when the disciples go into the empty tomb, they see the napkin that was on His head folded and put down. Now, if you're trying to escape from something, say your coat is on fire, you're not going to put it on a hanger. You're going to get it off you as fast as possible and get away from it as fast as you can. Jesus didn't escape death, He conquered death! There's a big difference between the two. Notice the scene: if you're escaping and you're worried about the soldiers outside (which Jesus wasn't), you would get out of there as quickly as possible. But Jesus isn't worried about time, soldiers, or anybody else. He takes the time to fold the napkin because He is in complete control of His own resurrection. And if we see the confidence and the care that Jesus had for His own resurrection, it is a precursor to the confidence and care He will have for each of our resurrections.