Who Will Roll Away the Stone?

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A question on the road. As the women walked to the tomb in the early morning, they talked about a problem. “And they said among themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?’ ” (Mark 16:3).

A very large stone. Their worry was real. Joseph of Arimathea had “rolled a stone against the door of the tomb” (Mark 15:46), and Mark tells us “it was very large” (16:4). The women knew they needed help.

They kept walking. The women did not know who would help them, but they did not turn back. They kept going toward Jesus with their spices, carrying their love and their question together.

They looked up. “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away” (Mark 16:4). The thing they were worried about had already been taken care of.

Who moved it? Matthew tells us: “for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2). God had sent His angel before the women even arrived.

All four Gospels. Luke says, “But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb” (Luke 24:2). John says Mary Magdalene “saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1). Every Gospel tells us the stone was already gone.

He sat on it. Matthew says the angel rolled back the stone “and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2). The very large stone that had shut the tomb was now only a seat for God's messenger.

An open door. Because the stone was rolled away, the women could go in: “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe” (Mark 16:5). Then the young man invited them to look: “See the place where they laid Him” (16:6).

Your Father knows. Jesus said, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:32). You can tell Him what worries you, because nothing you face surprises Him.

The biggest stone. The women came expecting a closed grave. Instead they found an open tomb, because Jesus had risen. Jesus died for our sins, and God raised Him to life. The greatest problem of all, sin and death, had already been answered by God.

What this means for you. When a problem feels too big, keep walking toward Jesus and tell Him about it. If you have never trusted Him, start today. He is already ahead of you, and He cares for you.

The question. “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” (Mark 16:3). Mark's verb is apokylio (say: ah-poh-koo-LEE-oh), to roll something away from an opening. Tombs cut in the rock were often closed with a large stone set in front of the door.

Very large. Joseph of Arimathea had “rolled a stone against the door of the tomb” (Mark 15:46). Mark explains the women's worry in one phrase: “for it was very large” (16:4). They had a real problem and no plan to solve it.

The same word. Matthew uses the same verb for the answer: an angel of the Lord “came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2). Luke uses it too: “they found the stone rolled away from the tomb” (Luke 24:2). The very thing the women asked about was the thing God had already done.

A seat for an angel. Matthew adds that the angel “sat on it” (Matthew 28:2), and that “His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow” (28:3). The stone the women could not move had become a seat for God's messenger.

Walking with an open question. The women set out before they had solved the problem of the stone. Faith often looks like that: taking the next step before you can see how the problem will be solved.

Your Father knows. Jesus said, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:32). The women brought their question with them, and God had already answered it.

The stone and the gospel. The women came prepared for death. Jesus “died for our sins,” and He “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The problem no human hand could move, sin and death, God moved by raising His Son.

For you. Turn from your sin and trust the risen Lord. Then bring Him your biggest worries and keep walking toward Him. He knows what you need, and He goes ahead of you.

Sealed and Guarded

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The next day. On the day after Jesus was buried, “the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate” (Matthew 27:62).

They remembered. They said, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise’ ” (Matthew 27:63). Jesus' enemies remembered His promise to rise, while His friends had not yet understood it.

Make it secure. They asked Pilate, “Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away” (Matthew 27:64).

Pilate's answer. Pilate said, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (Matthew 27:65).

The seal and the guard. “So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard” (Matthew 27:66). A seal most likely joined the stone to the rock, so that anyone who moved it would break the seal. Soldiers stood watch.

Everything they could do. The leaders used their best plans and their strongest guards. But no seal and no soldier can stand against God. The Bible says, “There is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30).

The morning came. On the third day there was “a great earthquake,” and an angel rolled back the stone (Matthew 28:2). “And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4).

A made-up story. Some of the guards went and told the chief priests “all the things that had happened” (Matthew 28:11). The leaders paid them money and said, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept’ ” (28:13).

A story that does not work. If the guards were asleep, how could they know who took the body? And even their made-up story admitted something true: the tomb was empty.

God is not worried. A psalm says that when rulers plot against the Lord and His Anointed, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh” (Psalm 2:4). The apostles later prayed that psalm about Herod, Pilate and everyone who stood against Jesus (Acts 4:25-27).

Why it matters. Jesus died for our sins and was buried, and God raised Him from the dead. A sealed and guarded tomb could not hold Him. You can be sure the resurrection really happened.

What this means for you. No one can stop God's plan. The Jesus whom no tomb could hold is strong enough to keep you safe, and every promise He makes will come true. Trust Him with your life.

The next day. “On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate” (Matthew 27:62). They came on the Sabbath itself.

Enemies who remembered. “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise’ ” (27:63). The women needed angels to remind them: “And they remembered His words” (Luke 24:8). His enemies remembered on their own and took the words seriously enough to post a guard.

The last deception. They wanted the tomb secure “lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first” (27:64). They called Jesus a deceiver, but they would soon spread a lie themselves.

As secure as you know how. Pilate answered, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (27:65). From then on, soldiers stood at the tomb (28:4, 11).

Sphragizo. “So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard” (27:66). The word for sealing is sphragizo (say: sfrah-GEED-zoh), to put a seal on something. A seal most likely joined the stone to the rock, so that no one could move it without breaking the seal.

Against the Lord. “The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed” (Psalm 2:2). “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh” (2:4). The apostles prayed this psalm about the rulers who “were gathered together” against Jesus (Acts 4:27).

Like dead men. When the angel came, “the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4). The men guarding a dead body became like dead men, while the One they guarded was alive.

The bribe. The chief priests and elders “gave a large sum of money to the soldiers” and told them what to say: “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept’ ” (28:12-13). So the soldiers “took the money and did as they were instructed” (28:15).

What the story admits. Sleeping men cannot report what happened while they slept, and the story did not deny that the tomb was empty. Paul could later point to living witnesses: the risen Lord “was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present” (1 Corinthians 15:6).

For us. Jesus “died for our sins” and “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The seal, the guard and the bribe all show that the disciples did not make this up. You can stake your life on it.

For you. People still try to keep Jesus sealed away. They cannot. Trust the Lord no tomb could hold, and do not be afraid of anyone who stands against Him.

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