empty tombs

We all know about The Empty Tomb of Jesus 

... but let's not get ahead of ourselves this Holy Week.

What about the empty tombs on Good Friday?

The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open.  The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus' Resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Matthew 27:51-53).

I must confess that in my 40 years as a pastor I never preached on this wild story, and I don't recall ever hearing anyone else do so.  After all, there is The Empty Tomb to occupy our attention, and to tell the world about.

But I wonder if those lives raised from death weren't a potent sign for those in Jesus' day of the tremendous power of The Cross and The Empty Tomb, which reached into sealed tombs and brought the dead to life.  The Reality of Jesus' Resurrection was authenticated in the lives of those holy people.  And I also wonder if this isn't meant to be a pattern for us in our day.  Jesus' Cross has broken into the whitewashed tombs that we are except for His Redeeming Work.  His Empty Tomb has raised us to new and holy life, sending us to go into our cities and towns, appearing to many people with the Good News of our resurrected lives, as did our Savior that first Easter Season.

So in these days of the Holy Spirit's advance, "wake up, sleepers, rise from the dead  and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14), and through you!