No obstacles

Luke 24:2
But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

I’ll ask you this one question: are you still looking for Jesus through the Law? Well, honestly there are probably going to be more questions to follow, but I’m starting with that one.

In the Gospel of Luke we find “certain women” coming with prepared spices to finish the burial process that had begun just days before. Because the Passover was upon them, they had been unable to fully prepare the body of Christ for the grave. So, naturally, they assumed they’d be able to come back after the Passover feast and ceremonies and finish the job. Boy, were they in for a surprise!

When they came to the tomb they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. What in the world had happened? Roman guards were supposed to make sure that no one could get at the body of Christ. They were ordered by the governor, Pontius Pilate, to stand guard under penalty of death if someone were to steal the body of Jesus. Certainly these men wouldn’t have willingly allowed the disciples to steal the body.

I’ll tell you what happened. During the finishing stages of Christ’s restorative mission here on earth, through His painful death, hasty burial, and triumphant resurrection, more than just a big rock was moved out of the way. The removal of the stone that was blocking access to Jesus Christ was not only a literal event that took place, but also a spiritual representation of what had taken place.

The stone that sealed Jesus in the tomb was a representation of the Law (written on stones, i.e., the Ten Commandments) that had been a hindrance to all mankind and had blocked access to a personal friendship with God. Jesus, at His death, became our sins, diseases, shortcomings, failures, worries, troubles, blasphemies; He became our Savior. He put Himself under the Law for the sake of releasing us from the curse of the Law. He satisfied the requirements of the Law for perfection, became our substitute, and released us from its grip.

Sadly, there are still people today who believe that the stone is still blocking the entrance and access to Christ. They haven’t realized the fact that the stone has been pushed aside. They haven’t realized that they don’t have to go through the stone to be in with Christ, but that He has moved the stone to come out and be with them.

Jesus didn’t destroy the stone when He came out of His tomb, holding true to His word (Matthew 5:17); He simply moved it aside. That’s what He’s done for us today. He hasn’t destroyed the Law of God; He’s simply rolled it aside, come out from behind it, and chosen to be with us.