Mark 16:1–3 (ESV) – When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
Lots of people refer to Easter as “Resurrection Sunday” – and with good reason. It is the day that we celebrate the fact that Jesus resurrected from the dead, defeating sin and death forever. It’s an incredible and almost indescribable thing, and the most important event in all of human history. But if you’re asking me (and by reading this I guess you are), I don’t think quite enough is made of the empty tomb. Let me try to explain.
When a person you love dies, there are two moments that bear the most pain and grief. The first is when they take their last breath. There is, in that moment, a shift from life to death, and with it, a shift in the relationship you’ve had with that person, and the future of your story without them in it. The second I believe, is when you stand at their grave, and see them lowered in, and perhaps even the dirt placed on top of them. It is in that moment that I think the finality of death really hits. No longer is their physical body (either in a casket or an urn) even visible anymore. The world is now without them, and the earth and all its sinfulness, has swallowed them up. They have literally been laid to rest. From ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Yes, you can visit the grave, but it becomes more obvious than ever, and then any other way, that they are not here anymore.
This is why the empty tomb bears so much significance. When Jesus’ followers laid Him in the tomb, I am sure they were dreading that same sense of finality. The women who were headed to the place of Jesus’ burial knew that this was it. He was in the ground, like all the rest, and they believed that’s where He would stay. They didn’t even know how they were going to get in, but after they did, IF they did, they would finish the burial process, and then the stone would be placed back in front of the tomb, and they would never see Him again. Death had won, and all that they had believed for so long – was done.
But then for them, and all of us, the story took an unexpected turn.
Mark 16:4-6 (ESV) – And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
“He has risen. He is not here, come see the place where they laid Him.”
The tomb was empty. But what does that mean? It means that all the things that Jesus said about who He was, and why He was here on earth was true. It means that His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God, was in fact true. Yes, He has risen – but the proof as they say is in the pudding, or in this case, the empty tomb. Dead people stay dead, and they stay where they were left – and this empty tomb is proof that Jesus had the power to empty out a grave.
But that’s not the end of this amazing story, Jesus’ empty grave has implications for you and I as well. Because HIS empty tomb – means that one day we will have one too.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 (ESV) – But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
The dead will rise. Our graves will be empty. In those moments, we will be able to echo the powerful words of the prophets and the Apostle Paul
1 Corinthians 15:52–55 (ESV) – …in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
So why do we have hope? How do we know death is defeated? Why can we know we are forgiven of our sin? Why is the story of Easter the most important ever told?
It all goes back – to an empty tomb.
