Ever run up against an obstacle that looms insurmountable; knowingly stands in the way of achieving what you’ve set out to do?
This certainly was the case with the three devoted women who, on an early Sunday morning, ventured out, as the sun edged up over the horizon, to the place where the body of Jesus lay. The myrrh-bearers hastened to the tomb to carry out their last devotions before letting him go.
They worried out loud to each other, as they made their way along the silty-clay path, “Who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?” The stone: four to six feet in diameter and a foot thick, it was more than imposing. It appeared impossible.
The best of intentions are often met with daunting obstacles.
To their amazement, however, the women found the stone rolled away. Shafts of sunlight invaded the empty tomb. Christ had risen! Had risen from the abode of the dead…just as he had promised.
Nearly 2,000 years since that first Easter morning it would seem the stone has settled back, once again encapsulating the sacred tomb in darkness, as an increasing segment of humanity has fallen away from believing this keystone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus.
Successive generations have allowed obstacles to prohibit entrance into Biblical truth. Not surprisingly, the farther we wander from the tomb, the more remote it all seems. We struggle to re-imagine the spiritual condition of humankind; replacing God’s divine revelation with our own vain notions of God. In darkness and in twilight, with many fears and rebellious guesses at the truth, we’ve allowed secular culture to define our relationship with God …even who we think God is …or should be. We’ve, in effect, become “stone”–deaf to the things of God; things some scoff at as “antiquated beliefs.”
Yet Jesus claims to be enduringly relevant; the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Contemporary cultural devotees aren’t alone in their disregard for the Divine. At first, the sandal-shod apostles didn’t believe a word of it, either. Uncertain, disillusioned and fearful, following Jesus’ disheartening crucifixion, followers found themselves with no one to follow. They were dismissive and thought the women were making it all up.
Certainty, however, replaced doubt when, over the next 40 days, the resurrected Jesus made a number of appearances to his followers. Appearances with the former fisherman, Simon Peter, who, out of fear, disassociated himself from Jesus only to be drawn back into the fold; to the other 11 disciples after that, and eventually to over 500 people at once, most of whom were still living eyewitnesses at the time the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Romans …all infallible proofs.
Charles Spurgeon–a deep theological thinker whose sermons were rich in doctrine, and dripping with knowledge of historical theology–related one Easter Sunday morning in 1869, “The witnesses were many: they were men of all classes and conditions. None of them ever confessed himself mistaken or deceptive. They were so persuaded that it was the fact, that most of them suffered death for bearing witness to it. They had nothing to gain by such a witnessing; they did not rise in power, nor gain honor or wealth; they were truthful, simple-minded men who testified what they had seen and bore witness to that which they had beheld.”
Truth …born of a lasting relationship with a Savior come into the world not to pass sentence upon it, but to save it–through him. Such a redemptive relationship transferred well beyond the conclusive confines of death’s vault.
As Josh McDowell makes clear, “Truth without relationship leads to rejection, rules without relationship lead to rebellion, discipline without relationship leads to bitterness, anger and resentment.”
Ultimately, it’s about relationship.
It wasn’t man, born of flesh, that dislodged the stone, release was heaven-sent.
Without a meaningful relationship with Jesus, we remain entombed …the stone firmly in place.
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics. At times the column is editorial in nature.
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