ALLELUIA!
Last
weekend, at the end of the reading of the Passion according to Matthew, we
heard that Joseph of
Arimathea wrapped Jesus’ corpse in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in
the rock. Then Joseph rolled a huge
stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.
I want to emphasize that the stone was
HUGE. For this was no ordinary,
run-of-the-mill, simple stone. Oh
no. This stone had tremendous symbolic
value. For this stone represents all the
sin, all the evil, all that was contrary to the Will of God; all the pettiness,
all the anger, all the lust, all the greed, all the fear, all the lies, all the
jealousy, everything that was dirty, that was evil, that was petty, that was
selfish, that was false, that was bad.
So truly it was a HUGE stone. If you have ever struggled under the
weight of guilt, remorse, shame, you know how heavy this stone can be. And this was not just one person’s guilt, but
the guilt of us all.
This stone symbolically was
HUMONGOUS. This stone made the rock that
Sisyphus pushed look puny. This stone
made Enchanted Rock out near Fredericksburg look like a little pebble. This rock was everything that was against God
and it was put there deliberately to bury the light. This stone was meant to seal the tomb, to
bury once and for all The Light of the World, and to keep The Light buried
under guilt, regret and shame for all eternity.
It was the weight of all the world’s sin. Truly, it was HUGE.
It was meant to stay there, blocking
the Light, for all eternity. It lasted
about a day.
“After the sabbath, as the first day of
the week was dawning,* Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold,
there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.”
The angel sat upon it. This great stone, so impressive and
oppressive, so threatening and intimidating, becomes a stool for God’s
messenger boy to sit on.
He
sat upon it!
For you see, after sin and evil and
pride had done their worst, they couldn’t even keep Jesus in the ground!
Jesus has been raised up! Alleluia!
Death and sin are beaten. The
devil is vanquished. There is no more
need to fear. Jesus has been raised and
we are promised immortal and eternal life.
Be open to something unexpected,
something totally surprising. Expect an
earthquake
in your outlook and understanding! Let
the message of God role away the
stone
of fear and sin and all that keeps Jesus from living in you fully.
The huge stone of evil and sin does not block
the Light anymore. The Gospel
tonight proclaims that Jesus “Has been raised from the dead,”!! Jesus is with us still! This is something New and
earth-shattering!
Love is stronger than hate!
Life conquers death!
God wins! Alleluia!!!
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