Fri.’s Devo - At the Tomb

Read: Mark 15:42-16:11; Matthew 27:57-28:15; Luke 23:50-24:12; John 19:38-20:18
The first two people to visit the tomb were wealthy Pharisees who were secret followers. The first was Joseph of Arimathea. He was an honored member of the high council. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate couldn’t believe Jesus was dead yet but when he found out he was, he agreed to let Joseph have it. He took Jesus body from the cross and wrapped him in new linen cloth and laid him in his own tomb that he had paid royally for. How sweet that a man with his father’s name got to do what Joseph would have wanted to do if he was still alive. That was what Isaiah 53:9 was referring to when it says that “He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death…” John tells us that Nicodemus, who was a leader of the Pharisees, came with Joseph to help. He brought 75 pounds of perfume made of myrrh and aloes. Together they rolled a big stone in front of his tomb. Mary and the other women watched from afar which is why they knew where he was buried.
What humors me is that the lawful Pharisees went to Pilate ON THE SABBATH to ask for him to secure the stone so his disciples couldn’t steal the body and say he rose from the dead. Not only was this the Sabbath but it was Passover which was one of their most sacred holy days.
It didn’t matter because when the stone blew off its entrance, no soldier or bulldozer could stop it. Even the guards saw it. They allowed the Sanhedrin to bribe them from telling the truth. Such hardness of heart!
The women were the first to see the empty tomb and to talk to the angels. They were also the first to see Jesus with their own eyes. They were at the right place at the right time.
Lord, we want to have encounters with you. We want to be at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.