Empty Grave - Open Heart

Imagine visiting your local cemetery and suddenly you discover the grave you’re approaching is not only unearthed – but the coffin is wide open and empty!

What would you think? I imagine the first thing you would do is call security – and start the search for a missing body!

Something strange and wonderful happened outside Jerusalem at a small burial site in the Judean countryside over 2000 years ago. A tomb which was sealed the previous night was now wide open, with no one taking credit for the monumental task. Let me explain…

By definition, a grave is a place for the interment of the dead; a tomb, a sepulcher. In Jesus’ day, it was often merely a natural cave or grotto, or an artificial tomb hewn out of rock. Many times graves were flagged with flat stones as markers to warn passers-by that they should not come in contact with the dead, thereby defiling themselves ceremonially, even if it was unwittingly done. Once the body was laid inside, the tomb was sealed with a large stone – most likely weighing hundreds of pounds, and taking at least two strong men to place it at the mouth of the cave. This was done to prevent animals from desecrating the body or thieves from removing sacred items. Unsealing the tomb without being noticed would be difficult at best. One person alone could not move the stone without help from some other source.

Resurrection morning occurred on the first day of the week and Luke 24:1-12 tells us it was “very early”. The women who had been with Joseph, a council member who had secretly become a disciple of Jesus, entered the tomb with the prepared spices for the body of Jesus. They discovered that the Lord’s body was not there – and as they stood perplexed – two men in shining garments appeared before them. The women, fearful and bowing down in reverence were told, “He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” Verse 8 then says, “And they remembered His words.”

These women had witnessed Jesus’ body being placed inside the grave by Joseph and Nicodemus, who also came with the burial preparations, including a large amount of myrrh, aloes, spices and linen to wrap and prepare the Lord’s body, as was the custom of the Jews (John 19:38-42). We know that when Joseph of Arimathea offered to lay the body of Jesus in his own tomb carved out of the rocky hillside, he most likely considered that he would need another tomb for his own interment. Little did he know that he would again be using that very tomb for himself! Jesus would merely be borrowing the sepulcher for three days – never again to be laid to rest, but to arise victorious and defeat death once and for all. What was so special about this grave?

When the women approached the tomb, they had but one concern: how would they roll away the large stone that blocked the entrance into the cave? But as they looked up – the stone had already been moved, and upon entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”

There was no need for the stone – 
Christ simply stepped into heaven and left earth’s grip…

Charles Wesley penned this stirring hymn which is sung in many churches on Easter morning:

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!

Where, O death is now thy sting? Alleluia!

Once He died, our souls to save, Alleluia!

Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!

Fought the fight, the battle won. Alleluia!

Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!

Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!

Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!

Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It was written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together.  Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

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Empty Grave - Open Heart

The Walking Dead

Zombies are all the rage... 

With the success of popular TV shows like AMC's  The Walking Dead  - our fascination with death and corpses is on the rise. Based on a comic book series by the same name, The Walking Dead focuses on a post-apocalyptic world where flesh eating zombies rule.  

Night of the Living Dead was a popular horror movie made in 1968 featuring zombies, and still boasts a cult following today.  So what fuels our culture's obsession with death?  Could part of it be denial of our own mortality?  

Halloween seems to bring out the worst in morbid costumes and decorations. Death and gore are glorified. Zombies, demons, witches and spooky monsters abound. What are Christians to do with this "holiday" that is celebrated from infancy to adulthood?

First of all - a little history lesson on Halloween:  It was a Celtic pagan festival, and then became the Christian holiday known as All Saints' Day, but later morphed into the secular celebration of today. 

Halloween activities include trick-or treating, wearing costumes, carving Jack-o'-lanterns, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching classic horror films.

In traditional Celtic festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.  The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark.  

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages.  Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, originating in Ireland and Britain.  Poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1st), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2nd).

The early Christian church moved a festive celebration called All Saints' Day from May to November 1 and renamed it  All Hallows' Eve, from which we get the word Halloween.  This was an overt attempt on the part of believers to infiltrate pagan tradition with the truth of the gospel.  It was a bold evangelistic move designed to demonstrate that only the power of the resurrected Christ could protect men and women from the destructive ploys of Satan and his demons.

An article posted on ChristianityToday.com  in 2009 cited a Barna Research study which had this to say:

“The majority of American Christians do not believe that Satan is a real being or that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, the latest Barna Research survey found. Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil,” the survey found.  40 percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of American Christians somewhat agreed.  In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is real.  20 percent strongly disagreed with the statement that Satan is merely symbolic and about one-tenth (9 percent) somewhat disagreed. The remaining 8 percent of American Christians responded they were unsure what to believe about the existence of Satan.”

Anyone who is not in Christ is one of the "walking dead" already (in the spiritual realm).  What can we as believers do to counter-balance a society that deems Halloween “harmless?” For starters, we can have an open door for evangelism and education. The deception of a holiday such as Halloween, with its witches, vampires, demons, skeletons, and overall theme of evil, can become an opportunity to demonstrate the dynamic power of Christ to redeem us from death.  Halloween distorts the reality of true spiritual warfare, and glorifies the dark side of the under world.  

Although death and the grave are very real, evil has been defeated by Jesus Christ through His death on the cross. We are more than conquerors over the powers of darkness, demonstrated by Jesus’ resurrection Colossians 2:15, and the Holy Spirit’s power in us as believers Ephesians 6:11-17.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life – He is Lord of the living, as death has no power over those who believe on His Name. If you want to have a life changing personal relationship with Jesus Christ - please visit  Steps to Peace with God

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus… For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.”   I Thessalonians 4:14; 16

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together. Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

If you have been encouraged by this post - please take time to share it with others.

The Walking Dead