Dwell with the resurrected Christ

There would have been no Easter if the Gospels had ended with the words, “and they laid the body of Jesus in the tomb and departed”, said W.J. Samuel. When Jesus was laid in the tomb that Friday evening, there was a common belief that this tomb was the final resting place of Jesus. His mission was terminated, cut short by His horrific execution, and now He was at peace.

The disciples of Jesus were not near the tomb, They were in Jerusalem, but they dd not, individually or collectively come to the tomb, One can say they were afraid of their own lives, after the manner in which Christ was executed. However, none of the others, not Joesph who gave his tomb to Jesus, not the two Marys, nor the disciples whom Jesus loved, gave importance to what Jesus had said — that He would arise from the dead. The people at the tomb did not remember it, or if they did, they did not give enough importance to the prophecy of Jesus. Otherwise, why would they all have left the tomb?

Interestingly, it was the Chief Priests of the Pharisees, the very people responsible for the crucifixion who remembered His words and approached Pilate. Mathew 27:63 says, “Sir, we remember while he was still alive, the deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again’. So, give the order that the tomb may be made secure until the third day.

Clearly, the enemies of Christ remembered His words. In 2 Timothy 1:10, the Bible says, “But it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” When the women from the tomb rushed to inform everyone that Jesus their Lord had risen from the dead and He is alive, the disciples were transformed. They went to different parts of the earth preaching the Gospel of Christ as He had commanded them.

In John 11:25, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Dwelling with the resurrected Christ means a transformed life.