“Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

Easter, April 5, 2015

Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

The three women got up early on that first Easter morning to go to the tomb of Jesus. They went there to complete his funeral. They had spices to anoint the body of Jesus. Jesus had been buried in a tomb cut out of rock, and a large stone had been rolled in front of the entrance. The stone was too big for the women to move by theirselves so they wondered, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” Perhaps a gardener would help them. But when they arrived, the stone had been rolled away. The body of Jesus was not there. First they were puzzled, then alarmed! But a young man, dressed in a white robe who was probably an angel, proclaimed the Easter Gospel. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

The women had wondered, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

The tomb has to be open so that the women, and later the disciples, can come and see that Jesus had risen from the dead.

There are some people who wanted to close the tomb up quickly again. There was the Jewish religious authorities who didn't want the tomb opened. They are the ones who wanted to kill Jesus in the first place. And if Jesus had really risen from the grave, then this would prove that he was the Savior, and they would be proven to be wrong. Another big group that would like to close up the tomb is the atheist group. If Jesus has risen from the dead, then this proves that God does exist. They want to close the tomb and hide the evidence. Another group that would like to close up the tomb is the world of unrepentant sinners. If Jesus died and rose, then sin is judged.

But the tomb cannot be closed. Jesus has risen! Hallelujah!

The stone was rolled away so that the women and disciples could look inside and see that it was empty. The stone did not have to be removed for Jesus to come out.

How could he get out? If you remember the accounts in the other Gospels of John and Luke (John 20:19, Luke 24:36), Jesus could enter the locked room where the disciples were. His risen body was no longer confined to the limits of physics. The same power that gave life to the body that had died on the cross, gave resurrection glory to come out of the grave. But the door had to be opened, not for Jesus but for women named Mary. It was necessary for them to look into the grave and see that Jesus was no longer there. They had to see the empty tomb.

The door had to be opened so that we too can see into the tomb. The witness of the women gives us faith to know that the tomb is empty. In faith, we look into the tomb and see that it is still empty. We do not find the body of Jesus. And that is wonderful!

We do not find Jesus, but he finds us. The angel told the women that Jesus would meet them again in Galilee. Jesus found two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13ff), later in the house in Jerusalem, then in Galilee. He found Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). And he has found us in Okinawa. Jesus comes to us. He comes in Word and Sacrament. He comes whenever and wherever the Gospel is spoken.

Sometimes our hearts are like the rock tomb. Unbelief and this world of sin are like a big stone that will trap us. To be left in the tomb of unbelief is not to rise with Christ.

The Holy Spirit opens the doors of our hearts so that we see and understand what has happened. We believe that Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sin. He died in our place so that we do not have to die for our sin. Jesus suffered hell for us. Then on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. This shows that his sacrifice was effective. It proves that our sins are forgiven. And it shows that Jesus has power over life and death, and so can give life to us after we die. That is the Christian faith, the Christian hope, the Christian life.

The angel greeted the women at the tomb with the Gospel. The stone is still rolled away. The angel messenger is still there today in the Word of the Gospel. The angel shows us that the tomb is empty. He says to us, “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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