Passion Week: Don't Seal Him In.

"(Pharisees to Pilate) So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."" - Matthew 27:64



Rich Palmer at the Western Wall (remains of 1st century temple)

 In John 2:19, we see Jesus Christ making claims to the Jewish leaders, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in 3 days." There are 10 other references in the New Testament to Jesus being raised from the dead on the Third day. It's important to remember that the definition of a day was from dusk to dusk; eg. Saturday would start at 6PM (or so) on what we today call Friday. When there is a reference to the hour of day, it is started from daybreak (6AM or so). So in Luke 23 we see reference to the whole land going dark from the 6th hour to the 9th hour. This would represent Noon to 3PM (by our 21st century clocks).

Carefully watch the timeline. He did not say 72 hours, but on the third day. Crucified and buried before sunset (1st day - Nisan 15th); Sabbath (2nd day - Nisan 16th); the tomb is empty in the morning at daybreak (3rd day - Nisan 17th). If someone were counting the hours it would seem that it were only a day and a 1/2 (3PM on a Friday to 6AM on Sunday) and they would be accurate. But it is clearly the third day that Jesus rose from the grave.

To this day there are skeptics, like the Pharisees of that day, that are not able to embrace the resurrection of Jesus Christ for fear of giving up their own authority and knowledge to accept something by faith. It is stated that Pharisees believe in the resurrection of the soul in eternity after the Messiah comes. So there was an inherient fear in the Pharisees and Chief Priests that Jesus was who he said he was, based on his statements of rising on the third day. In their minds, they had to be questioning their actions over the last week. Had they really killed the Son of God? What eternal destiny was there for them if this were true? Sealing of the grave and putting guards on watch would ensure their empowerment going forward.

Through out the New Testament we find evidence of Jewish leaders and Pharisees that come to an acceptance of the resurrection and grace of Jesus Christ. These included Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea (member of Sanhedrin), Saul (Paul the Apostle) and other Pharisees as shown in Acts 15:5. What the others tried to control and put in place was to deal with the intervention of other humans. God ways are not of this world and His plan is going to take place on His timeline. We are much like the Pharisees of that day in trying to control our own lives, rather than accepting the life God has destined us for. Take this day before the glorious day of resurrection to reflect on what is it that God wants you to be doing for His kingdom. Don't mold it to fit your knowledge or authority and don't seal it off to control it. Embrace His plan and you will find a world that is in need of what you have to offer. Be Blessed.