To all of my friends around this planet,
I just wanted to comment on a few things that are interesting about the resurrection:-)
There were 100 men guarding that tomb, and it had been sealed. One angel made 100 men fall as dead men. One angel talked with Mary, and it didn't even phase her... She had Jesus in her heart.:-) The 100 men were part of a rebellion.
The Pharisees and Roman leaders told the soldiers that had been guarding the tomb to say that they had fallen asleep and Christ's body had been stolen. The citizens would question that, because normally a Roman soldier that fell asleep at his post was put to death immeditely, so the citizen would want to know why they were still alive... and how would they know if they had been asleep, as a blessed author put it?!
The fact that Pilate sealed and "secured" the tomb made Jesus' resurrection an even greater miracle...and their lies even more irrelevant...
Why would they have left His clothing in the tomb if they stole His body?...
There were many resurrected right after Jesus, and I guarantee you, the citizens believed them instead of the soldiers' false reports...
When Jesus died there was an earthquake, when He arose there was an earthquake and when He comes again in glory, there will be an earthquake...
The whole tonage of every mountain and all of the dirt on this planet could not have kept Jesus in that tomb!!!!!!! All the hosts of darkness could not keep one angel from rolling away that stone with a touch...Praise God!!!!!!!
The following is an excerpt out of the beautiful classic volume, Desire of Ages. Please take the time to read, and you will not be sorry. You will have a beautiful picture of Jesus' resurrection like you've never seen it before!!!!!!! Part 3 is more of these beautiful writings! If you have time, please be ready to read!!!!!!!:-) God bless all of you.
81. "The Lord Is Risen"
[This chapter is based on Matt. 28:2-4, 11-15.]
The night of the first day of the week had worn slowly away. The darkest hour, just before daybreak,
had come. Christ was still a prisoner in His narrow tomb. The great stone was in its place; the Roman
seal was unbroken; the Roman guards were keeping their watch. And there were unseen watchers.
Hosts of evil angels were gathered about the place. Had it been possible, the prince of darkness with his
apostate army would have kept forever sealed the tomb that held the Son of God. But a heavenly host
surrounded the sepulcher. Angels that excel in strength were guarding the tomb, and waiting to
welcome the Prince of life.
"And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven." Clothed
with the panoply of God, this angel left the heavenly courts. The bright beams of God's glory went
before him, and illuminated his pathway. "His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as
snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men."
Now, priests and rulers, where is the power of your guard? Brave soldiers that have never been afraid
of human power are now as captives taken without sword or spear. The face they look upon is not the
face
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of mortal warrior; it is the face of the mightiest of the Lord's host. This messenger is he who fills the
position from which Satan fell. It is he who on the hills of Bethlehem proclaimed Christ's birth. The
earth trembles at his approach, the hosts of darkness flee, and as he rolls away the stone, heaven seems
to come down to the earth. The soldiers see him removing the stone as he would a pebble, and hear him
cry, Son of God, come forth; Thy Father calls Thee. They see Jesus come forth from the grave, and
hear Him proclaim over the rent sepulcher, "I am the resurrection, and the life." As He comes forth in
majesty and glory, the angel host bow low in adoration before the Redeemer, and welcome Him with
songs of praise.
An earthquake marked the hour when Christ laid down His life, and another earthquake witnessed the
moment when He took it up in triumph. He who had vanquished death and the grave came forth from
the tomb with the tread of a conqueror, amid the reeling of the earth, the flashing of lightning, and the
roaring of thunder. When He shall come to the earth again, He will shake "not the earth only, but also
heaven." "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage." "The
heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll;" "the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned up." But "the Lord will be the hope of His people, and
the strength of the children of Israel." Heb. 12:26; Isa. 24:20; 34:4; 2 Peter 3:10; Joel 3:16.
At the death of Jesus the soldiers had beheld the earth wrapped in darkness at midday; but at the
resurrection they saw the brightness of the angels illuminate the night, and heard the inhabitants of
heaven singing with great joy and triumph: Thou hast vanquished Satan and the powers of darkness;
Thou hast swallowed up death in victory!
Christ came forth from the tomb glorified, and the Roman guard beheld Him. Their eyes were riveted
upon the face of Him whom they had so recently mocked and derided. In this glorified Being they
beheld the prisoner whom they had seen in the judgment hall, the one for whom they had plaited a
crown of thorns. This was the One who had stood unresisting before Pilate and Herod, His form
lacerated by the cruel scourge. This was He who had been nailed to the cross, at whom the priests and
rulers, full of self-satisfaction, had wagged their heads, saying, "He saved others; Himself He cannot
save." Matt. 27:42. This was He who had been laid in Joseph's new tomb. The decree of heaven had
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loosed the captive. Mountains piled upon mountains over His sepulcher could not have prevented Him
from coming forth.
At sight of the angels and the glorified Saviour the Roman guard had fainted and become as dead men.
When the heavenly train was hidden from their view, they arose to their feet, and as quickly as their
trembling limbs could carry them, made their way to the gate of the garden. Staggering like drunken
men, they hurried on to the city, telling those whom they met the wonderful news. They were making
their way to Pilate, but their report had been carried to the Jewish authorities, and the chief priests and
rulers sent for them to be brought first into their presence. A strange appearance those soldiers
presented. Trembling with fear, their faces colorless, they bore testimony to the resurrection of Christ.
The soldiers told all, just as they had seen it; they had not had time to think or speak anything but the
truth. With painful utterance they said, It was the Son of God who was crucified; we have heard an
angel proclaiming Him as the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory.
The faces of the priests were as those of the dead. Caiaphas tried to speak. His lips moved, but they
uttered no sound. The soldiers were about to leave the council room, when a voice stayed them.
Caiaphas had at last found speech. Wait, wait, he said. Tell no one the things you have seen.
A lying report was then given to the soldiers. "Say ye," said the priests, "His disciples came by night,
and stole Him away while we
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slept." Here the priests overreached themselves. How could the soldiers say that the disciples had stolen
the body while they slept? If they were asleep, how could they know? And if the disciples had been
proved guilty of stealing Christ's body, would not the priests have been first to condemn them? Or if
the sentinels had slept at the tomb, would not the priests have been foremost in accusing them to Pilate?
The soldiers were horrified at the thought of bringing upon themselves the charge of sleeping at their
post. This was an offense punishable with death. Should they bear false witness, deceiving the people,
and placing their own lives in peril? Had they not kept their weary watch with sleepless vigilance?
How could they stand the trial, even for the sake of money, if they perjured themselves?
In order to silence the testimony they feared, the priests promised to secure the safety of the guard,
saying that Pilate would not desire to have such a report circulated any more than they did. The Roman
soldiers sold their integrity to the Jews for money. They came in before the priests burdened with a
most startling message of truth; they went out with a burden of money, and on their tongues a lying
report which had been framed for them by the priests.
Meanwhile the report of Christ's resurrection had been carried to Pilate. Though Pilate was responsible
for having given Christ up to die, he had been comparatively unconcerned. While he had condemned
the Saviour unwillingly, and with a feeling of pity, he had felt no real compunction until now. In terror
he now shut himself within his house, determined to see no one. But the priests made their way into his
presence, told the story which they had invented, and urged him to overlook the sentinels' neglect of
duty. Before consenting to this, he himself privately questioned the guard. They, fearing for their own
safety, dared not conceal anything, and Pilate drew from them an account of all that had taken place.
He did not prosecute the matter further, but from that time there was no peace for him.
When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the Saviour would not take
up His life again. He claimed the Lord's body, and set his guard about the tomb, seeking to hold Christ
a prisoner. He was bitterly angry when his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly messenger.
When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an end, and that he
must finally die.
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The priests, in putting Christ to death, had made themselves the tools of Satan. Now they were entirely
in his power. They were entangled in a snare from which they saw no escape but in continuing their
warfare against Christ. When they heard the report of His resurrection, they feared the wrath of the
people. They felt that their own lives were in danger. The only hope for them was to prove Christ an
impostor by denying that He had risen. They bribed the soldiers, and secured Pilate's silence. They
spread their lying reports far and near. But there were witnesses whom they could not silence. Many
had heard of the soldiers' testimony to Christ's resurrection. And certain of the dead who came forth
with Christ appeared to many, and declared that He had risen. Reports were brought to the priests of
persons who had seen these risen ones, and heard their testimony. The priests and rulers were in
continual dread, lest in walking the streets, or within the privacy of their own homes, they should come
face to face with Christ. They felt that there was no safety for them. Bolts and bars were but poor
protection against the Son of God. By day and by night that awful scene in the judgment hall, when
they had cried, "His blood be on us, and on our children," was before them. Matt. 27:25. Nevermore
would the memory of that scene fade from their minds. Nevermore would peaceful sleep come to their
pillows.
When the voice of the mighty angel was heard at Christ's tomb, saying, Thy Father calls Thee, the
Saviour came forth from the grave by the life that was in Himself. Now was proved the truth of His
words, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. . . . I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again." Now was fulfilled the prophecy He had spoken to the priests and rulers,
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 10:17, 18; 2:19.
Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ had proclaimed in triumph, "I am the resurrection, and the
life." These words could be spoken only by the Deity. All created beings live by the will and power of
God. They are dependent recipients of the life of God. From the highest seraph to the humblest animate
being, all are replenished from the Source of life. Only He who is one with God could say, I have
power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again. In His divinity, Christ possessed the
power to break the bonds of death.
Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf,
and His resurrection took place on
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the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years
this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain
were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits was
waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the
grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the
first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His
resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. "For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 1 Thess.
4:14.
As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of captives. The earthquake at His death had
rent open their graves, and when He arose, they came forth with Him. They were those who had been
co-laborers with God, and who at the cost of their lives had borne testimony to the truth. Now they
were to be witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead.
During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and
the ruler's daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised,
they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ's resurrection were
raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave.
These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them
from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or
experience sorrow.
These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be
risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore
witness to the truth of the words, "Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they
arise." Their resurrection was an illustration of the fulfillment of the prophecy, "Awake and sing, ye
that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isa. 26:19.
To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is
restored; for He has life in Himself
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to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down
in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. "I am come," He said, "that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly." "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life." "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise
him up at the last day." John 10:10; 4:14; 6:54.
To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment. "If a man
keep My saying, he shall never see death," "he shall never taste of death." To the Christian, death is but
a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and "when Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." John 8:51, 52; Col. 3:4.
The voice that cried from the cross, "It is finished," was heard among the dead. It pierced the walls of
sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers to arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard
from heaven. That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and the dead in Christ shall
arise. At the Saviour's resurrection a few graves were opened, but at His second coming all the precious
dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. The same power that raised
Christ from the dead will raise His church, and glorify it with Him, above all principalities, above all
powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come.
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Never had Christ attracted the attention of the multitude as now that He was laid in the tomb.
According to their practice, the people brought their sick and suffering ones to the temple courts,
inquiring, Who can tell us of Jesus of Nazareth? Many had come from far to find Him who had healed
the sick and raised the dead. On every side was heard the cry, We want Christ the Healer! Upon this
occasion those who were thought to show indications of the leprosy were examined by the priests.
Many were forced to hear their husbands, wives, or children pronounced leprous, and doomed to go
forth from the shelter of their homes and the care of their friends, to warn off the stranger with the
mournful cry, "Unclean, unclean!" The friendly hands of Jesus of Nazareth, that never refused to touch
with healing the loathsome leper, were folded on His breast. The lips that had answered his petition
with the comforting words, "I will; be thou clean" (Matt. 8:3), were now silent. Many appealed to the
chief priests and rulers for sympathy and relief, but in vain. Apparently they were determined to have
the living Christ among them again. With persistent earnestness they asked for Him. They would not be
turned away. But they were driven from the temple courts, and soldiers were stationed at the gates to
keep back the multitude that came with their sick and dying, demanding entrance.
The sufferers who had come to be healed by the Saviour sank under their disappointment. The streets
were filled with mourning. The sick were dying for want of the healing touch of Jesus. Physicians were
consulted in vain; there was no skill like that of Him who lay in Joseph's tomb.
The mourning cries of the suffering ones brought home to thousands of minds the conviction that a
great light had gone out of the world. Without Christ, the earth was blackness and darkness. Many
whose voices had swelled the cry of "Crucify Him, crucify Him," now realized the calamity that had
fallen upon them, and would as eagerly have cried, Give us Jesus! had He still been alive.
When the people learned that Jesus had been put to death by the priests, inquiries were made regarding
His death. The particulars of His trial were kept as private as possible; but during the time when He
was in the grave, His name was on thousands of lips, and reports of
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His mock trial, and of the inhumanity of the priests and rulers, were circulated everywhere. By men of
intellect these priests and rulers were called upon to explain the prophecies of the Old Testament
concerning the Messiah, and while trying to frame some falsehood in reply, they became like men
insane. The prophecies that pointed to Christ's sufferings and death they could not explain, and many
inquirers were convinced that the Scriptures had been fulfilled.
The revenge which the priests had thought would be so sweet was already bitterness to them. They
knew that they were meeting the severe censure of the people; they knew that the very ones whom they
had influenced against Jesus were now horrified by their own shameful work. These priests had tried to
believe Jesus a deceiver; but it was in vain. Some of them had stood by the grave of Lazarus, and had
seen the dead brought back to life. They trembled for fear that Christ would Himself rise from the dead,
and again appear before them. They had heard Him declare that He had power to lay down His life and
to take it again. They remembered that He had said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up." John 2:19. Judas had told them the words spoken by Jesus to the disciples while on the last
journey to Jerusalem: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the
chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the
Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again." Matt.
20:18, 19. When they heard these words, they had mocked and ridiculed. But now they remembered
that Christ's predictions had so far been fulfilled. He had said that He would rise again the third day,
and who could say that this also would not come to pass? They longed to shut out these thoughts, but
they could not. Like their father, the devil, they believed and trembled.
Now that the frenzy of excitement was past, the image of Christ would intrude upon their minds. They
beheld Him as He stood serene and uncomplaining before His enemies, suffering without a murmur
their taunts and abuse. All the events of His trial and crucifixion came back to them with an
overpowering conviction that He was the Son of God. They felt that He might at any time stand before
them, the accused to become the accuser, the condemned to condemn, the slain to demand justice in the
death of His murderers.
They could rest little upon the Sabbath. Though they would not step
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over a Gentile's threshold for fear of defilement, yet they held a council concerning the body of Christ.
Death and the grave must hold Him whom they had crucified. "The chief priests and Pharisees came
together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After
three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest
His disciples come by night, and steal Him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so
the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it
as sure as ye can." Matt. 27:62-65.
The priests gave directions for securing the sepulcher. A great stone had been placed before the
opening. Across this stone they placed cords, securing the ends to the solid rock, and sealing them with
the Roman seal. The stone could not be moved without breaking the seal. A guard of one hundred
soldiers was then stationed around the sepulcher to prevent it from being tampered with. The priests did
all they could to keep Christ's body where it had been laid. He was sealed as securely in His tomb as if
He were to remain there through all time.
So weak men counseled and planned. Little did these murderers realize the uselessness of their efforts.
But by their action God was glorified. The very efforts made to prevent Christ's resurrection are the
most convincing arguments in its proof. The greater the number of soldiers placed around the tomb, the
stronger would be the testimony that He had risen. Hundreds of years before the death of Christ, the
Holy Spirit had declared through the psalmist, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a
vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord,
and against His anointed. . . . He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision." Ps. 2:1-4. Roman guards and Roman arms were powerless to confine the Lord of life within
the tomb. The hour of His release was near.
Continued on part 3...
God B in U & through U, Joy J
One after the other they tried, but could make no sense of it. They could neither read what was written nor interpret it to the king. So now the king was really frightened. All the blood drained from his face. The nobles were in a panic." 
