The Rolled Back Stone

An angel of the Lord ... rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. Matthew 28:2

Let your imagination run wild for a moment. Imagine that after Jesus had been crucified and buried, Satan calls all his devils together and says to them, “We have won our final victory. We have killed the Son of God and finished him off forever. I am calling for a ten-day celebration. Let us eat, drink, and be merry.”

Suddenly in the midst of the festivities, a nervous messenger arrives on the scene and shouts, “The stone is moving; the stone is moving!”

“How many are pushing on the stone?” Satan asks. “Just one lone angel, Your Majesty,” answers the messenger.

“Send up a dozen men to Jerusalem,” orders Satan, “and hold that stone in place. Meanwhile, on with the festivities!”

In a short time, a second messenger arrives in agitation. “That stone is still moving.” he screams.

“Send up a whole battalion of devils,” shouts Satan, obviously upset by the news. “That’ll hold him! Back to the celebrations!”

Not long afterward a third messenger arrives, disheveled and shrieking, “The stone is still moving—we can’t stop it!’”

Now Satan takes things seriously. “Stop the festivities,” he cries. “Everybody up to the tomb in Jerusalem, we must hold that stone in place!”

And so, all hell puts its shoulder to the stone, but one lone angel on the other side, with one hand behind his back and the other gently touching the stone, rolls it away from the tomb, turns it on its side, and sits on it!

However, the irony of the whole episode is this: The tomb is already empty! Jesus has already risen. The angel does not roll away the stone so that Jesus can come out of the tomb.

He rolls it away so that His disciples can go in and see that Jesus is not there, that He is alive!

J.T. Seamands

“He is Risen INDEED!”