On the Go Devotions

Jesus Rose From the Dead, Part One: Proof of a Guarded Tomb

Background Passages: Matthew 27:57-28:20; Luke 24:13-35

Today's Focal Passage: (Matthew 27:62-66, HCSB)

62 The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive, He said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come, steal Him, and tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' Then the last deception will be worse than the first. 65 You have a guard [of soldiers], Pilate told them. "Go and make it as secure as you know how.66 Then they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting the guard.


Brownie Protection Program

My husband really loves it when I make Cookie Dough Brownies (a specialty of mine). The problem is he does not like it if I make them for other people because I will not let him cut into the perfect 9x13 sheet of goodness.

One night, I made them to take to a ladies event. As I was getting ready for work the next day, he came into the bedroom and made a comment about the brownies sitting innocently on the counter. I grinned and kept working on my hair. The longer he talked about them and the more I thought about it, I began to wonder if he would actually take one for his lunch if I left them unguarded. Surely he knows he can't have one. He's never cut into a designated dessert before.
 You could call it erring on the side of caution or merely saving myself a few steps for the evening. Any way you slice it, I scooped up the brownies and put them in the back seat of the car. At church that night, I passed him in the hallway. "So where were those brownies this afternoon?" he asked. "Safely out of your reach," I said. "You didn't really think I was going to take them, did you?" I smiled and replied, "You looked for them, didn't you?"

Honestly, I don't think he would have taken one, but I had to be sure. The Pharisees didn't think Jesus would come back to life, but they knew He and His followers absolutely believed He would. An empty grave would confirm it. The Son of God was not a harmless blip on the Pharisees' radar but a force they knew to be reckoned with. Jesus did rise and they couldn't stop Him (even by hiding Him in the backseat).

Emily Jennings

Digging Deeper: The "Swoon" Theory

Modern opponents of Christianity have suggested that Jesus merely "swooned" or passed out on the cross and awoke in the tomb. Again, this goes against the evidence of Scripture. According to John 19:31-34, the professional soldier in charge of hastening Jesus' death before the Sabbath came to Jesus and saw that He was dead; therefore he did not break Jesus' legs, an act that sped up the dying process so the executed would not continue to hang on the cross on the Sabbath. Instead, the soldier stabbed Jesus with a spear, and blood and water came from His side. This is a condition that some people have said indicated death by a heart that literally burst from emotional or physical anguish.