(Luke 24:1-7 KJV)  "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. {2} And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher {3} And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. {4} And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: {5} And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? {6} He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, {7} Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

It is the third day following the cruel trial and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. Jesus was hastily buried, in order that the Sabbath be not defiled; and in such haste as He was laid to rest it was impossible that His Body be properly tended to according to Oriental custom. And, as is often the case in this sometimes dreary world we live in, the chore of properly burying Jesus fell squarely on the shoulders of the women of the household. Though Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, the Rich man and the Pharisee who secretly followed Jesus, took His blessed Body from the Cross and laid Him in a tomb, the final washing, final cleansing, final preparation of the Body of Christ fell on the women. A chore such as this – unfitting for a man, or so they said. I would have begged for the chance, Beloved of God, as would have any true believer. Often our obedience to the saddest and hardest of chores leads to blessing that fills our cup to overflowing..

The Bible tells us that several women came to the tomb, prepared to wash and properly – one last time – entomb the Body. Those who came were:

(Mark 16:1 KJV)  "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him."

Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome. These three women had followed Jesus as He preached, often ministering to Him as needed by preparing food and securing lodging. We know little about these women – perhaps they were best friends whom Christ found and called to eternal life. Now their Master was dead, came to minister to our Lord together and for one last time.

As they approached the tomb it became apparent that something was wrong. When Jesus was laid to rest three days before, the Chief Priest and the Pharisees came to Pilate and asked that the tomb be sealed, and a Guard of soldiers be placed around it (Matthew 27:62-66). A large stone was rolled against the mouth of the tomb, a stone that took the Guard’s combined strength to move. Once the stone was pushed into place amid the grunting and cursing of these salty soldiers, the “seal of Pilate” was placed on the huge stone. If any dare disturb the stone without Pilate’s express permission this would be certain death. The stone, heavy and immovable – the Guard, loyal and immovable – the seal, fixed and immovable. The ladies expected to see these things. They expected to plead with the Guard, and hoped beyond hope that they could convince these steely eyed men to allow them to tend to Jesus one last time. They knew that their chances of getting to Jesus were very slim, yet they went anyway … and found the unexpected.

The Guard, willing to a man to lay down their lives for Pilate, were no where to be found. The stone, huge and immovable, stood far away from the mouth of the tomb, flung to the side as it were merely made of cotton. The seal, broken, lay in ruin on the ground. And Jesus – oh Jesus, Whom they had come to minister to – Jesus was no where to be found.

We have focused on the women who went to minister to Jesus. We have focused on the guards, on the angels, on the Messiah Who had not yet ascended to the Father. Year after year, preachers have revisited these wonderful and great themes. We have listened, and loved, and marveled. Yet we have, to my knowledge, never focused on this:

Why was the stone rolled away?

Do not answer the question too quickly, for if you do you will rob yourself of a blessing. Perhaps the child, or the younger Believer, will quickly answer “The stone was rolled away so Jesus could leave the tomb”. Why would that be necessary?

 (Luke 24:36-39 KJV)  "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. {37} But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. {38} And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? {39} Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

(John 20:19-20 KJV)  "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. {20} And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord."

The stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out, for Jesus appeared to His disciples suddenly, while they were hidden away for fear of persecution in a locked room. God does not need to move a stone to leave a place, nor does God need to open a door to appear inside a room. No, Beloved of God, the stone was not rolled away to let Christ the Messiah, Holy God and Eternal Savior, out of the tomb. No tomb was built that could hold Him, the Heavens and the earth cannot contain His glory and presence.

The Stone Was Rolled Away To Let Man IN, Not To Let God Out!

Oh Father, allow me to preach this Word that we so desperately need to turn back to. Father, please allow me to focus on this message, the simple Gospel of Christ. Year after year I watch in despair as your Church turns from this basic truth, the Truth on which Christianity is built on.

Religion abounds, and in many instances has covered the truth that is Christianity with its rituals and formulas and its systems. Blessed Believer, Christianity has, from its beginning, been radically different from all other so called “faiths” that abound in this sad and dreary world. All other faiths, mockery and pretenders to the One True Faith, all have one thing in common – they teach us ways in which we can work our way to God. The Buddhist and the Hindu,  they teach stages of “Nirvana”, or means of moving from one state to another until we reach “perfection”. The cults all focus on working toward the Creator, struggling step by miserable step, until we reach that Place where He dwells. Islam and other oriental religions put forth the idea that we can and must work for Allah, even to the point of committing Jihad – in order that we be blessed.

When our Lord Jesus came on the scene just two thousand years ago, mankind had become so wrapped up in ritualism and formalism that the “form” of religion had all but replaced the Truth that was evident from Creation. What Truth, you ask? The Truth that we, of ourselves, are unable to develop a ritual or a system or a means by which we can please God. What Our Lord has wanted from us from the beginning has been a relationship of love and trust. What our Lord has wanted is that we willingly surrender all that we have and ever hope to be to Him so that He can make something of our lives. This Truth was first taught us of Abraham, our father in the faith, of whom the Scripture said:

(Romans 4:3-5 KJV)  "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. {4} Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. {5} But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Righteousness was given to Abraham four hundred years before the giving of the Law, a system of rituals that were intended to show us that we are, of our own power, unable to do even the smallest thing to please our Creator. After the giving of the Law God spoke again through King David, and said:

(Romans 4:6-8 KJV)  "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, {7} Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. {8} Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

God taught David, the man who was after God’s own heart, that righteousness cannot come by our own works, but only comes by our desperate, acknowledging, pleading, fully understanding reliance on God as our Savior. God MUST be our Savior. God MUST roll the stone away – we have absolutely no power to roll that stone away within ourselves. No ritual will roll that stone away, no Law, no matter how righteous or holy, can be enacted that will roll that stone away.

We MUST rely on God our Savior if we will be saved! This is the simplicity of the Gospel message.

The Stone Was Rolled Away To Allow Each Person The Choice of  Entering

The second Truth of Christianity that the rolled away stone teaches is that the Way to God has been cleared by God so that each person can freely enter into His presence – if he or she will walk that path. You see, the Stone, that terrible barrier placed between us and God by our own sin; the Stone, rolled down into the mouth of the cave to keep us away from our Messiah; the Stone, rolled in place and sealed by unbelieving hands and unbelieving men; this Stone has been rolled away.

I cannot stand outside of that tomb and look inside and see if He has indeed risen. The walls of the tomb, the darkness inside the tomb, my distance from this dark and foreboding structure block my eyesight. How can I see through these walls. How can I see unless I go to where He was, and once seeing Him gone from that cold stone slab believe that He has done as He has promised. Jesus Christ has risen! Jesus Christ is alive!

So many people want to rely on what someone else has told them about the tomb. So many in the Church today have no knowledge of God our Savior because they have been told about the tomb, but have never been inside of it, never walked the path to see that Jesus has risen. I cannot walk that path for you, dear Seeker. I cannot trust and believe for you, Precious One. You must walk that path – you can enter and see by faith, for the stone has been rolled away.

(John 20:11-15 KJV)  "But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, {12} And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. {13} And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. {14} And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. {15} Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."

Mary Magdalene, that woman of perhaps ill repute, the woman whom Jesus Christ saved – she stood at the foot of the Cross and looked up as her Master hung, dying, suffering, in agony for us. She, like I, like every believer who has ever lived, looked up at His anguished face and cried bitter tears that our sins made such a thing necessary. Oh Jesus, how could you die for such a worm as I? How could such a precious Life be poured out for no more than I aspire to be. Tears, an ocean of tears, are wept at the foot of the Cross once we see that it was our sins that drove the nails into sinless flesh. This is the start of the journey of faith.

But until we walk the path, until we stoop down and look into the opened tomb and see Jesus Christ is gone, until that happens we do not come to a full knowledge of the salvation that is so freely given by Him. The crucified Christ paid for our sins, but the resurrected Christ sets Christianity apart from all other religions in the world today. It is the mark of a true relationship with God that the believer say, “I know that my Redeemer liveth”. As Paul said:

(1 Corinthians 15:13-17 KJV)  "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: {14} And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. {15} Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. {16} For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: {17} And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."

If the tomb is not empty, then we are yet dead in our sins! If the bones of Christ lie on the cold stone slab, then our faith is no better than the other religions that teach systems and creeds and methods by which we can approach the Infinite.

The Biblical truth is that Christianity is different from all other so called means to God. It alone is Truth, for Christianity alone has the Risen Christ. Yet in our day many in our Churches teach synergy. We hear the message that there are many ways to God. Well meaning but confused people tell us that we can find our way to God through Islam as well as we can find our way to God through Hinduism. Well meaning people tell us that we teach a message of division if we do not recognize other religions as equally true paths to salvation.

Well meaning people populate hell to the point of overflowing, and lead others down this perverse and crooked path.

Only Christ’s tomb is empty. Buddha’s bones lay in a grave; Mohammed’s bones lay entombed. Every religious leader of every system of religion that this world has ever produced turns to dust in grave after grave. Of Christ alone we can say, “The stone is rolled away … come and see”. Of Christ alone we can say, “God has done the work of salvation. Come, look in the tomb, and see if He is still here. Where are the soldiers? Where is the Seal? Where is the Stone?” All barriers are gone, and Jesus Christ is risen indeed.

The Stone Was Rolled Away To Show Life of Grace In Christ

Consider the Stone one last time. The Stone was put in place by man’s hand, but rolled away by God’s hand. The Stone was sealed by man’s hand, but the seal was broken by God’s hand. The Stone was an insurmountable barrier when guarded by man’s hand, but tossed to the side by God’s mighty hand.

Do you have a barrier in your life today that seems insurmountable? Do you have a Stone that seems to be unmovable, terrible in its size and immensity? To our Savior that Stone is but a marble, a child’s toy to cast to the side. When Mary saw the stone cast to the side and the empty grave, she began to weep bitterly, for she thought that someone had stolen Jesus’ body away. Yet He was there, He was there.

Often the trials of this life seem like that Stone, so immovable and horrible, a immense shadow that blocks out the joy of living. If we give those trials to Jesus, our Risen Savior, our eyes will be opened and we will see that He was standing there all the time. We do not need to move the stone. No, dear One, we cannot move the stone. The stone is too large. The stone is guarded. The stone is sealed. We cannot move the stone, but our Creator can. We cannot move the stone, but our Jesus can.

We must trust the stone to Him. He moved the stone once, and walked triumphant from the tomb. He did not need to move the stone to leave that tomb, but He moved the stone to teach us that all we are and ever hope to be, we must entrust to Christ our Savior.

Are there any stones in your life today? If there are, now is the time to entrust them to Christ. The stone is rolled away. Believe on Him who is no longer in the tomb. Believe on Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.