Journeying to Easter - Part 3නියැදිය

The empty tomb

There are times when finding something empty brings great distress: when you’re hungry and go to the fridge but it’s empty; when you need to pay a bill but your bank account balance is $0.00; when you long to have a child, but each test shows an empty womb; when you’re waiting on a friend to arrive but their seat remains empty.

Sometimes the mere fact that something is empty is bad news. Today’s passage turns this phenomenon upside down. Mary finding the tomb empty is distressing to her but, to us, the unacknowledged witnesses of the Gospel story, the empty tomb is triumphant! It’s completely understandable that Mary, Peter and the other disciple are confused, dumbfounded and left with one huge question: Where has Jesus’ body gone? The fact that we know where He has gone gives us immediate comfort in this story.

It allows us to approach this moment in a whole new frame of mind and it brings to my mind 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14: ‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him’ (NIV). We know that this moment represents the victory that Jesus has shown over death and the devil. We know that this moment marks the fulfilment of God’s promise to save His people. We know that this moment means that the emptiness, the brokenness of our lives, is made full, by our forever King and Saviour Jesus. What an amazing moment!

Written by KATIE SMITH