"Even though they found no grounds for a death sentence, they asked pilate to have him put to death, and when they had accomplished all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb."
If we were to stop there and read no further, the history of Jesus would simply be a tragedy. It would be another sad story. The story itself would simply dissolve over time and become a legend of innocence destroyed at the hands of the powerful and the tomb would remain a very scary place, a place of despair.
"But God raised him from the dead and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem."
What a beautiful word "but". The story doesn't end. In fact, the history of Jesus continues to not only make history but direct history, "And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be."
"Do not let your hearts be troubled; have faith."
As we pray at funerals, "Lord Jesus Christ, by your own three days in the tomb, you hallowed the graves of all who believe in you and os made the grave a sign of hope that promises resurrection even as it claims our mortal bodies."
The grave is no longer a scary place of death where sadness lingers and heartache deepens; rather the grave is place where love shows its true strength, "but God raised him from the dead."
The grave is the unlikeliest place of hope for all; the grave is the first place we look to to discover hope in this life and to be encouraged to keep moving forward with one eye fixed on the things at hand the other on the hand who prepares a place ahead, "and I go to prepare a place for you."
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