What’s In The Tomb? An Easter Story

In Luke, chapter 24, on that very first Easter morning, some ladies went down to the tomb of Jesus, and in verses 2 and 3, we can see that the stone was rolled away and the body of Jesus was gone. But, just because there wasn’t a body in there doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything to find. There are three things a Christian can find in that empty tomb, and it’s not a rabbit with a sack full of eggs.

The first thing that we can find in that empty tomb is fulfilled prophecy. Jesus had been talking about this for a while, but the folks just couldn’t understand what He was saying. Even Peter and John and the boys weren’t getting it. But when they looked in that empty tomb, they had to have remembered what He (Jesus) had said in Luke 9:22, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, and chief priest, and scribes, and be slain and be raised the third day.” And I wonder if any of them thought about Isaiah, chapter 53, what I call the John 3:16 of the Old Testament. Also, in John 2:19, Jesus had said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then, after seeing prophecies fulfilled, we can find the second thing, “promises forthcoming.” Just three days before He had told the thief on the cross next to Him that, this very day, he would be with Him in paradise after the man had confessed Him as Lord and asked Jesus to remember him when he came into His kingdom. He made that promise to all of us in John 14:1-6 when He said don’t “get shook up, boys; you believe in God, believe in Me. In my father’s house, there is lots of room. If that wasn’t right, I would have told you. I’m going up there to fix up a place for you and when it’s all fixed up, I’ll come back and get you myself and take you up there with me.”

And the third thing that we can find in that empty tomb is a purpose for living. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus told them that all power had been given to Him in heaven and earth, and He gave us a job to do. He said, “go and teach everyone that will listen and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” And he said, “teach them to do all the things I commanded you to do,” and then He said, “I’ll always be with you plum up to the end of the world.”

If that tomb hadn’t been empty, we wouldn’t have any fulfilled prophecy, forthcoming promises and purpose for life and we wouldn’t have any future hope.

Thank you, Lord, for an empty tomb.