The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ was a horrible affair .He had been tortured, mocked and spat upon through the night and hours proceeding His journey to Calvary where nails were driven through His hands and feet, where the opened, bloody flesh of His back was placed against a wooden cross, where the people mocked Him and told Him to come down if He were the Son of God .Yet Jesus remained nailed to that cross as He knew that he had done all that he had set out to do: the love of God would not be defeated by the cross: his death would be a victory for the love of God.Father ,I give myself into your hands. It is finished, and with those words he died.
The Jewish leaders had heard reports that Jesus had talked about being alive again 3 days after he died, they did not believe it yet they still arranged for a guard to be sent to the tomb for the next three days , as they assumed that this would stop anyone from stealing the body and claiming that Jesus is alive again .
So the entrance of the tomb at Joseph of Arimatheas garden was sealed and guards were positioned round it.
When dawn broke on the third day two woman walked sadly into the garden carrying spices and oil. They were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas .They had come to the tomb to finish the anointing of the body of Jesus.
They knew nothing of the guards and the seal across the entrance of the tomb.No one challenged them as they walked up to the place where Jesus was buried and for some reason the guard was gone. Yet suddenly they noticed that the huge rock that had sealed the tomb had been removed .Someone had been there before them .They ran into the entrance and to their astonishment they saw a man in a white robe who said to them ,I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified yet he has risen as he said he would .
Heres the ledge where his body lay .Your looking among the dead for someone whos alive! Go quickly and tell the other disciples.
The disciples had been stunned by the death of Jesus .It seemed to them that all hope had gone from their lives .To comfort one another they had spent the last three days together at a house in the city .It was here that the two women ran with the good news, where they explained what they had heard and seen .
At first no one believed them but then Peter got up and ran out of the room followed by John .They ran all the way to the garden and found the seal open .They saw the linen clothes lying on the stone ledge and rolled up separately, both which had been around Jesus head They realised that the womens story was true.
Later Mary Magdalene made her way into the garden ,as she walked she noticed a man ,she ran up to him and asked if he had seen Jesus, yet the more she looked at him the more she realised that the man was in fact Jesus .
Mary was filled with joy and happiness. JESUS WAS ALIVE!
