Icons of the Christ - Part 2

The Crux of the matter is the Cross (even the word 'crux' is Latin for cross).  But there are other notable icons that remind us of what Christ has done in this world.  The second icon is also very familiar to us, and was probably the focus of most Easter messages heard yesterday at Christian churches around the world; The Empty Tomb. 

After the death of Jesus, a man named Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus in order to bury him.  Pilate was actually surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead (since crucifixion usually took a lot longer than 6 hours).  After making certain that Jesus was in fact dead, he released the body to Joseph.  Joseph took the body, wrapped Jesus in clean linen with about 100 pounds of spices brought by Nicodemus, then laid him in his own tomb that had been cut out of a rock and rolled a large stone over the opening and then left.  The women close to Jesus; Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus were on hand to witness the burial.  They left with the intention of returning with additional spices to more adequately finish the burial process.

However on the next day the chief priests received a guard from Pilate to secure the tomb, for fear that the disciples would steal Jesus' body and make the claim the Jesus had risen from the dead.  The tomb then remains undisturbed until Sunday morning, when the women close to Jesus are the first on the scene to discover the tomb open and empty.  While they are perplexed about this, it is what happens next that changes everything for them, and for us.

  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  Mark 16:4-6

While the Cross wins the Victory, it is the empty tomb that declares God has keeps his promises.  God's powerful love cannot be stopped by mere death.  Paul in beginning his letter to the Romans, and the truth about the Gospel, writes this about Christ, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:4).

The empty tomb, like the cross is critical to God's mission of loving us.  It cannot be seen as simply some allegorical picture of new beginnings.  Without the empty tomb; a literal, bodily resurrection, then we have NO hope.  In dealing with the church at Corinth, Paul confronts the teaching that is being circulated that there is no resurrection of the dead.  They hadn't thought through the implications of that.  If there is no resurrection, then Christ hasn't been raised, and they really had not thought through the implications of that.  Without the empty tomb, preaching is empty, faith is empty, hope is empty.  It is the empty tomb that fill our hearts with hope (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

Today is Monday, the day after Easter.  I want to remind you of one thing; The Tomb is still open and empty!  Whatever hope you felt yesterday, feel it today.  Live everyday knowing it was God's love for you that rolled the stone away and raised Jesus from the dead.