Mark 15:42-16:11
Matthew 27:57-61
Luke 23:50-24:12
John 19:38-20:18
Matthew 27:65-66, “‘Take a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So, they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”
Matthew 28:6, “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying.”
Rumors were swirling and the Pharisees were haunted by the echo of Jesus’ words: “After three days I will rise again.” The man they killed wasn’t ordinary; the man was innocent. What if it was true? Would His disciples try to steal the body? The Pharisees panicked! To save face, they went to Pilate, the Roman governor, to insist that the tomb be sealed and guarded until after the third day. But their plan backfired in a major way.
On the third day, an angel rolled the stone away revealing a very empty tomb. And in the world’s most epic blunder, the Pharisees helped to prove Jesus’ words true by providing firsthand witnesses. The Savior had risen! Christ had robbed the grave! The guards could now attest to Jesus’ supernatural resurrection power!
Like the Pharisees, we often maximize obstacles and minimize God’s unstoppable power. As Christ-followers, we have 24/7 access to the same power that raised Jesus from the grave! Victory is ours when we refuse to allow a rock to block us from what The Rock wants to do in and through our lives!
Lord, You are all I need. Help me to surrender what I can’t control to You. Thank You for making a way for me to have supernatural resurrection power both here and in Heaven. Thank You, Jesus! Amen.