Then, as they [the women], were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee…” Luke 24: 5, 6, NKJV
Dear Lord, our hearts rejoice as we enter the study of Your Word and realize that we serve a risen Savior! In His name we pray; Amen
It is Sunday, the first day of the week. Jerusalem is still buzzing under the effect of everything that has happened in the past week (Luke 24: 18-24). So much has happened, and so swiftly! It appears as if the religious leaders are feeling rather snug, about what they have accomplished; but, are they really? “The revenge which the priests had thought would be so sweet was already bitterness to them. They knew that they were meeting the severe censure of the people; they knew that the very ones whom they had influenced against Jesus were now horrified by their own shameful work” (The Desire of Ages, p. 684).
But let us go back. There is a saying that, “the darkest hour of the night is just before dawn.” Well, that hour has come for Christ. The dawn is about to break forth for Him! When Christ’s body had been laid in the tomb, by request of the religious leaders, a special guard had been commissioned to keep watch over it, and the Roman seal had been placed upon the “heavy stone” that closed the tomb. Satan had set his barricade of evil angels around it, determined to keep Christ a prisoner in the grave. But what was unknown to mortals, was that God the Father, had also sent from the courts of heaven, angels that excel in strength, to keep watch over His Son as He slept the sleep of death! Hallelujah!
But now it was time for the Son to awaken. Permit me to use my imagination, by God’s grace, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. From the realms of heaven went forth the command: Gabriel, go call My Son. Tell Him that His Father calls Him! No sooner was the command given, the angel who replaced Satan after his fall (The Desire of Ages, p. 686) took off like lightning, travelling at angelic speed through space! For more than thirty years, he had lived for this moment; the day when His beloved Commander would once again be free from the tyranny of humankind; unlimited by its fetters. The earth can hardly accommodate the visit of this angelic being. There is lightning, and a great earthquake, as Gabriel breaks through the boundaries that separate heaven from earth, and lands in front of Joseph’s new tomb! As soon as the guards see this majestic, celestial being, “they became as dead men” (Matthew 28: 4).
When Gabriel speaks his salutation, Jesus rises from the dead by His own power, the power He had to “lay down [His] life, and take it up again” (John 10: 17)! When, on the cross, Jesus had cried, “It is finished!” the Bible tells us that the graves of many were open (Matthew 27: 52). Now, as Christ arises, and comes out of His grave, these souls come out of theirs (The Desire of Ages, p. 690). They are walking, talking, testimonies that Jesus, holds the keys to death and the grave! Hallelujah! No child of God need fear death, for a merciful Savior holds the keys. Death is no longer a threat; it is a now a conquered foe! “Because He lives I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives.”