A curious thought at the time! But now we have to face the facts with realism. Our wishing can't bring him back, can't change the great victory of those who opposed him, the great loss of those who have been his friends.
Fortunately, at times like this, we sometimes find friends in strange places. There were two secret followers of Jesus on the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council. We were aware of one of these, Nicodemus - he had visited Jesus secretly one night quite some time before. The other was Joseph, from Arimathea, a rich man who had a new tomb where no body had ever been placed. The two of them went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus so that he could at least have a decent burial. This all had to be completed before sunset. That's when the Sabbath begins, and this year the Passover feast falls on a Sabbath. Because of the Sabbath it was not possible to do all that duty and respect required. They wrapped the body in linen with spices - a mixture of myrrh and aloes - but as evening came they had to leave. Some of the women will go today to complete the task.
For the moment the tomb is sealed and a guard is placed. The Jewish authorities are taking no chances! And we're glad about that! We don't want anyone working mischief with the dead!
Where do we go from here? None of us has any idea at all! The past three-and-a-half years have been just incredible. Not one of us will be the same again! And yet we've failed the test! Between the lot of us we have betrayed him, denied him and run away from him! For that reason, we'll never be the same again either!
And now he has gone! Part of us is gone too! I suppose Andrew and I could go back to our fishing business - James and John too. But what about Matthew? He surely couldn't go back to collecting taxes! In one way or another we all have the same problem. Part of us belongs together with the others, but part of us is gone!
Oh Are you sure? I didn't expect Judas to face up to our company again and yet not this! Poor Judas! He's taken his life! A strange fellow - yet he shared the road with us too! And you say the word is getting around Jerusalem? Spare us the details! His act of betrayal was detestable but this solves nothing! Poor Judas!
No! We can't be the same! We can't go back! The future's all confused! The memory and example of Jesus we can treasure! His kind and generous spirit we can try to copy! I'm sure our praying will be different. He made God seem much closer - our Father! And yet fishers of men? We don't have any good news to tell them - just a way of life, some fine teaching. Anyway, we've all failed the test! How can we teach the right way when we have failed so badly ourselves? Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees "hypocrites". That name would fit us too!
Mary! You've come in haste! You're worried!
What? The tomb is open, you say? Who moved the stone? I wonder. And what? The body of the Lord is gone and no signs of where they have taken him? That's bad news! What happened to the guards? I wonder. They will be in bad trouble! But who has done this?
Yes, yes! We'll come! At once!
Come on, John! Let's go!
The tomb is open! The body is gone! That's strange, weird! Who could have done it? The authorities were afraid of this - thought we might do something and say he was alive! Not very likely! Watching Jesus die was too harrowing an experience! We're trying to come to terms with the fact that he's gone! It was all so public, so graphic, so vivid - the memory of it burnt into our soul! Crucified, dead and buried! There must have been some third party neither side knew about! The facts will out! In the end there will be no way to keep them hidden!
That's it there, John! You can still see where the seal has been. Wherever have the guards gone? Don't just stand and stare! Let's go in!
That's where the body was laid - on that stone ledge. But here's a bit of a puzzle - the grave clothes The cloth that was on the body, not folded up but lying there! And the head-cloth a little apart, as if But why would a body-thief leave the grave clothes behind anyway?
John, what Mary said was right! I almost hoped she had got her bearings wrong and come to the wrong tomb! But the tomb is open and empty! Strange indeed! Let's not hang around here! We'd better head home!
So where does that put us, John? The Jewish authorities will have something to say about this. There's no sign of the guards. Perhaps the authorities know already. They probably found out before Mary did! They'll probably put up a story about why the body is gone. I can't imagine what. I mean to say - it wouldn't suit their purposes to dispose of the body and there's no way any of us could have done anything! It was their suspicion that made them insist on having the tomb guarded in the first place!
Whatever were the guards doing? That stone is heavy. It would take at least twelve strong men to shift it. Even if the guards had drifted off to sleep, there is no way they wouldn't have been wakened in plenty of time to prevent whatever nasty business was going on. And the ground itself would have left evidence of a struggle. The guards would have died in defence of their duty unless, of course, they were in league with whoever did it. But that seems unlikely. The guards are on the other side anyway, and their jobs and life would be on the line!
John, I can't make anything of it. It doesn't make sense. The whole thing has been trauma enough without this! The Romans should resolve it all properly, find the body and bring the culprits to justice. I suspect that Pilate will be taking his cues from our Jewish leaders. One bad report about him has gone to Rome already. From what I've heard, he acted during the trial of Jesus like a frightened man - well, uncertain perhaps.
And to think that our women should be the first of our number to visit the tomb, that they were the ones to find out this tragic news! Sadness upon sadness! Grief upon grief!
Mary! You're back! Something's different about you! You've heard some news perhaps?
He's what? He's alive? You really mean "alive"? Are you sure? Whatever happened to you?
You thought you saw the gardener But you were crying, you couldn't see properly for your tears You thought he might have removed the body You wanted to know where he had put the body so you could bring it back
That explanation wouldn't fit anyway, Mary! The gardener couldn't have done it! It would have to have been a larger number of men But my speculation doesn't seem relevant now. What happened next?
The gardener said, "Mary!" And you don't know that gardener? I mean, you recognised that gardener? I mean, you realised You recognised the voice Not just your name but the way he said it You knew that it was Jesus You have seen the Lord And you said to him, "Rabboni! My teacher!"
What else did he say to you? Did he give you a message? "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'."
Alive! Jesus alive! That's incredible! That's going to take a while to sink in! First we begin trying to cope with the trauma of his death. Then we face the added tragedy of the disappearance of his body. And now - he's alive! Why, that's just wonderful! That's exciting! But steady on! I'm having trouble taking it all in!
Tell me again. You have seen the Lord It wasn't the gardener after all It was Jesus, and he's alive! He's with us for the present, but he will be returning to the Father!
Death seems so final - especially his death! At last, Mary, something begins to make sense, yet I'm having trouble getting used to the new exciting reality that Jesus is alive!
Perhaps we'll see his death as more than the triumph of bitter and cruel men! I recall now He said he would suffer and die and rise again! He grasped what was happening, but we didn't! He saw that his death would achieve something that the schemers knew nothing about. He talked about the Father's house having many rooms. "I am going to prepare a place for you " he said.
No, it's too much just now! I can't take it all in! I might have to see differently all that he said and did! I might have to see myself differently too! I wonder what that might mean!
Jesus isn't dead! He's alive! Does that mean that he is the King after all? And does it mean that we don't have to be the Skull? that we can be real live people because of him? that there is hope for Romans and for Jews, for sinners, for people who fail like me?
Does it mean that none of us need be the Skull, that all of us can be part of a living Body with Jesus as King? Already hope is stirring within me! I believe that it will be so! Yes, it will be so!
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