Station #5 of the Resurrection Story
Station #5 ….. An Angel Rolls Away the Stone
After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move. Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, bribing them to say, “His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping.” They assured them, “If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don’t get blamed.” The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around. (Matthew 28:2-4, 11-15)
Worth a Thousand Words: Angel rolling the stone, Wm. Blake
A Reflection:
De angel roll de stone away, De angel roll de stone away
Twas on a bright an’ shiny morn
When de trumpet begin to soun’
De angel roll de stone away
Sister Mary came a-running at de break o’ day
Brought de news f’om heav’n
De stone done roll away
I’m a-lookin’ for my Savior, tell me where He lay
High up on de mountain
De stone done roll away
De soljahs dere a-plenty, standin’ by de do’
But dey could not hinder
De stone done roll away
Ol’ Pilate an’ his wise men didn’t know what to say
De miracle was on dem
De stone done roll away (Negro Spiritual)
Resurrection, Present Tense:
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now! (1 Peter 1:3-4)