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"Come and see..."
by Max Lucado
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. (Matthew 28:1-4 NLT)
How conditions have changed since Friday. At the crucifixion there was sudden darkness, silent angels, and mocking soldiers. At the empty tomb the soldiers are silent, an angel speaks, and light erupts like Vesuvius. The one who was dead is said to be alive and the soldiers who are alive look like they are dead. The women can tell something is up. What they don't know is Someone is up. So the angel informs them: "Don't be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying" (Mt. 28:6, 7 NLT).
Such words mess with you. Be they false, the body of Jesus lay like John Brown's a-moldering in a borrowed grave. Be they false, then we have no good news. An occupied tomb on Sunday takes the good out of Good Friday.
Be they true, however, if the rock is rolled and the Lord is living, then pull out the fiddle and don your dancing shoes. Heaven unplugged the grave's power cord, and you and I have nothing to fear. Death is disabled.
Can we trust the proclamation? The invitation of the angel is "Come and see—"
Look at the tomb
The empty tomb never resists honest investigation. A lobotomy is not a prerequisite of discipleship. Following Christ demands faith, but not blind faith. "Come and see," the angel invites. Shall we?
Take a look at the vacated tomb. Did you know the opponents of Christ never challenged its vacancy? No Pharisee or Roman soldier ever led a contingent back to the burial sight and declared, "The angel was wrong. The body is here. It was all a rumor."
They would have if they could have. Within weeks disciples occupy every Jerusalem street corner announcing a risen Christ. What quicker way for the enemies of the Church to shut them up than to produce a cold and lifeless body? Display the cadaver and Christianity is stillborn. But they had no cadaver to display.
Helps explain the Jerusalem revival. When the apostles argued for the empty tomb, the people looked to the Pharisees for a rebuttal. But they had none to give. As A.M. Fairbairn put it long ago, "The silence of the Jews is as eloquent as the speech of the Christians."
Look at the Disciples
Speaking of the Christians, remember the followers' fear at the crucifixion? They ran. Scared as cats in a dog pound. Peter cursed Christ at the fire. Emmaus-bound disciples bemoaned the death of Christ on the trail. After the crucifixion, "the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders" (John 20:19).
These guys are so chicken we could call the Upper Room a henhouse.
But fast-forward forty days. Bankrupt traitors have become a force of life-changing fury. Peter is preaching in the very precinct where Christ was arrested. Followers of Christ defy the enemies of Christ. Whip them and they'll worship. Lock them up and they'll launch a jail-house ministry. As bold after the resurrection as they were cowardly before it.
Explanation: Greed? They made no money. Power? They give all the credit to Christ. Popularity? Most were killed for their beliefs.
Only one explanation remains — a resurrected Christ and his Holy Spirit. The courage of these men and women was forged in the fire of the empty tomb. The disciples did not dream up a resurrection. The resurrection fired up the disciples. Have doubts about the empty tomb? Come and see the disciples.
Look at the alternatives
While you're searching, come and see the alternatives. If Christ is not raised, if his body is decayed into dust, what are you left with?
How about eastern mysticism? Let's travel back in time and around the globe to India. It's 420 B. C. and Buddha is willing to see us. Here is our question: "Can you defeat death? Are you the son of Brahma?" He never opens his eyes, just shakes his head. "You are disillusioned, dear child. Seek enlightenment."
So we do. By virtue of a vigorous imagination we travel to Greece to meet with the father of logic, Socrates. He offers a sip of hemlock, but we pass, explaining that we have only one question. "Do you have power over the grave? Are you the Son of Zeus?" He scratches his bald head and calls us Raca (Greek for turkey—brains).
Undeterred, we advance six centuries and locate the ancient village of Mecca. A bearded Mohammed sits in the midst of followers. From the back of the crowd we cry out, "We are looking for Allah incarnate. Are you he?" He stands and rips his robe and demands that we be banished for such heresy.
But we escape. We escape back in time to Jerusalem. We ascend the stairs of a simple house where the king of the Jews is holding court. The room is crowded with earnest disciples. As we find a seat, we look into the radiant face of the resurrected Christ. The love in his eyes is as real as the wounds on his hands.
If we ask the question of him, we know his answer. "Are you raised from the dead? Are you the Son of God?" Jesus might well personalize the words he gave to the angel. "I am raised from the dead as I said I would be. Come and see the place where my body was."
(c)Max Lucado 2004
Used with Permission
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