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Verse:The Sabbath day ended. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices. They were going to use them for Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, they were on their way to the tomb. It was just after sunrise. They asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?” —Mark 16:1–3, NIV
Jesus is dead. Joseph of Arimathea takes His body from the cross, places it in a tomb, and rolls a stone in front of it. The entrance is closed.
Jesus is blocked in by a big stone.
The thoughts of the women who followed Jesus during His ministry revolve around this stone during the whole Sabbath. How can they move it? Who will roll it aside for them? Their hearts are as heavy as this stone.
They are filled with grief and despair.
Their hope is buried behind this huge stone.
Can you relate to this? Are you in a situation like this right now? What is your stone? What is so cold and hard in your life that it takes away your perspectives —that it fills your whole life so that you cannot think of anything else? Have dreams been shattered and hopes been destroyed in your life? “Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The stone was very large” (Mark 16:4, NIV).
When they arrived at the tomb, the stone was no longer there.
What a sudden change! The obstacle they had been focusing on all this time was gone. The stone was rolled away, and Jesus was no longer hidden behind that stone. The tomb could not contain Him. Death did not conquer Him, but He conquered death. He is risen and alive. Jesus can move your stone, too, no matter how big it is, and give you a new, unobstructed view of Him.
May you experience this resurrection experience, not just this Easter but every day.*
Dagmar Dorn