Monday, March 28, 2016
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Then the
angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be
afraid!” he said. “I know you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said
would happen. Come, see where his body
was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen
from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.” The
women ran quickly from the tomb. They
were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give
the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and
greeted them. And they ran to him,
grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t
be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave
for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city
and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders
was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They
told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while
we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about
it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” So the guards
accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and
they still tell it today. Matthew
28:5-15(NLT)
There are times
of such earth-shattering importance that your heart pounds when you hear the
news. I’m certain the women running back
from an empty tomb could testify to that!
But that noise had hardly subsided before the first conspiracy rumors
began.
And Matthew
records that (in his day…some 30 years later), they were still telling that lie. Well, Matthew, tax collector and friend, they’re
still telling it today in one version or another. Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code and its sequels, floating
theory upon fantasy about resurrection conspiracy, have made him a very rich
man.
It seems large
bribes still work!
It has often
just simply amazed me what people in power will do to cover up something that
threatens their status quo. The ruling
elders of Israel were evidently so in-love with their position, prestige and
power that they hatched the cover-up in the heat of a new crisis brought to
them by the guards, over the “missing” body of Jesus.
What’s so
interesting is the elders’ dullness. The
centerpiece of Israel’s hope – and what the elders were in charge of preaching –
was the coming of Messiah. And when
Jesus showed up, they missed the mark by a mile – they crucified their one
reason for existing!
And then they
covered it up!
The rationale
of the plot was simple enough – dead men don’t walk-off from their tombs!
Or do they?
A simple bit
of logic tells us two facts:
1. The elders
financed the wealthy retirement of the guards who had fallen asleep on the job,
so that they would tell a lie.
2. The disciples
got nothing, but went to early graves defending the truth.
And now, two
thousand years later, the truth of the resurrection still makes my heart pound. I’ve been to any number of church dramatic presentations
of the resurrection, preached it for years, and watched all sorts of movies and
docudramas on the dead man walking away from the tomb. Whether the actors are world class or no
class, when it comes to the resurrection, my heart leaps into my throat.
It’s
something like the end of Spielberg’s movie, E.T. The little space man has died and is lying in
a cryogenic freeze-dryer. The earth boy,
Elliot, who was E.T.’s friend, is crying his heart out. And suddenly you see E.T.’s heart glow, and
you know it’s not over; connection with the mother ship has occurred and E.T.
is once more vital and all is well.
This is my
connection with the Gospel resurrection fact; no matter how many times I read
it, meditate on it, or see presentations of it, the reality of it still makes
my heart pound!
For You Today
Meditate on why your heart
pounds – isn’t that the sign that life is present?
[1] Title Image: By Andrew A. Shenouda from
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (It's the Holy Week!), via Wikimedia Commons
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