A Morning Miracle

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed by this, that behold, two men stood before them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them,"Why do you seek the living among the dead?  "He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, "Saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again,' "  And they remembered His words.

Luke 24: 2-8 NKJV

It had been a tumultuous few days to say the least.  Now, as dawn broke over Jersalem, a few women came to the tomb of this Jesus who three days earlier had been crucified on a Roman cross.  Of course, these women knew that Jesus had been no ordinary man, but a man of God.  Now, as they came to the tomb of their friend bringing spices, they were met with a mind blowing sight.  For not only was Jesus not where He should have been, but they were greeted by two seemingly angelic men "In shining garments."  Then, they asked these women one of the most important questions in history.  "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"  Their friend, who just days earlier had suffered a horrible death, was now nowhere to be seen.  What had these two men done with their Jesus?   However, despite Christs repeated warnings of what He must face at the hands of  sinful men, these women did not remember His words, that is until the angels reminded them.  "He is not here, but is risen!"  Now, in the space of three days, everything had changed!

Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to thhe gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."

Matthew 20: 17-19 NKJV 

There had been warnings for sure.  As Jesus traveled in His ministry, he told anyone who would listen just what the Jewish authorities had in store for Him.  This is what He had been called to do, and He did it faithfully.  This was the very moment that God had been orchestrating since the begining of time.  What sadness had God felt as His loved creation fell into the sin of disobebience?  He could have destroyed man and started over, but that is not God nature.  No, his love for us would not have been exhibited had He simply cast us aside.  Not only did our sin of disobedience to our creator demand punishment, it also created a seperation between God and man that would take the death of Jesus to rectify.  For even though we bore the penalty for our sins, it was Jesus who paid the price on our behalf.  A innocent man becoming the very essence of sin that it may be put to death.  The sin debt we inherited in the garden now paid in full by the shed blood and resurection of Jesus.  I am quite certain that these women who had come to Jesus' tomb that morning had no idea of the gift that their friend had given unto them.

~Scott~