“So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”
Matthew 27:66 (NIV)
The Pharisees feared rumors of resurrection and asked Pilate to help secure Jesus’ tomb, so Pilate granted their request to appoint a guard at the entrance. They further secured it by stretching a cord across the large stone, then they packed clay over each end of the cord, and put a wax seal over the clay, the seal of Roman government authority. These extreme measures to keep the tomb untouched appeared to work until the third day, when the earth quaked, angels came down, rolled away the stone and broke all the seals. There is no power known to man like the resurrection power of Jesus. No government seals of authority, armed guard or massive stone would prevent God from finishing His salvation plan for us. A split second blast of life giving power resurrected the body of Jesus, leaving only His grave clothes lying in that tomb.
The analysis of the shroud of Turin by scientists gives us a hint of that blast of resurrection power. Other bodies wrapped in grave clothes never left an image on the cloth from the inside out, as the shroud of Turin has. It’s been determined that the image was not painted on by man. In a documentary, scientists described the image as if made by an ultraviolet light of a single wavelength, that nothing can reproduce today. We don’t have to agree on the credibility of the shroud, but we can agree that His resurrection came from the same source who said, “Let there be light” and there was light. The resurrection of Jesus changed the destiny of all mankind, and His life giving power is available to everyone who believes in Him today. Every breakthrough in our journey of faith is derived from that same source of resurrection power. He frees us from anything that entombs us, meeting us where we are, in whatever kind of tomb we are in. The cord of fear that once held us is now broken. The clay seals of doubt crumble into dust. No longer do the previous powers and principalities have any power over us. The seal of Jesus is on each of us who believe and He overpowers any previous authority that kept us down. God didn’t send His powerful resurrection blast of life into the body of Jesus just to create an exciting Easter story. He did it to raise us all up, who believe in Him. There is an old Irish gospel hymn that says “You raise me up to be more than I can be.” He is raising us up to be more than we have ever been before.
This is your resurrection morning to receive the power Jesus has given you. He is not looking at your past mistakes, because you have also left your grave clothes behind in the tomb. He raises us up to new beginnings, and invites us to be all that we can be, through His resurrection power. Glory to our risen Lord.