Day 194: Luke 23:50–56, Luke 24:1–8

The women were terrified and bowed to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men (v. 5).

How the Sabbath hours must have dragged for these women. They had prepared the spices and perfumes but were forced to rest on the Sabbath. They had come with Jesus from Galilee, so we can assume they were guests in others’ homes. Surely the time seemed to be an eternity. Women two thousand years ago were not so unlike we are today. We want to do something. Feeling needed is sometimes the very thing that keeps a woman going. For months they “had followed him and cared for his needs” (Mark 15:41). Now all that was left to do was to serve Him in memorial. They needed to get to the tomb and do the one last thing they could for their Lord.

As the moments crawled by, I’m sure these women recounted with horror the last few days’ events. Surely at times they sat in silence, each one weeping in painful solitude as she remembered every encounter with Him. Jesus had a way of making a person feel like the apple of His eye. He still does.

The women “rested” through a Sabbath dusk that frustratingly gave way to night. More waiting. They probably never slept a wink and were on their way to the tomb before a cock could crow. John 20:1, spotlighting Mary Magdalene, tells us “it was still dark.”

Mark tells us that the women were hoping the officials would allow someone to roll away the stone so they could apply the spices and perfumes to the body. To their astonishment, they saw that the “very large” stone had been rolled away. The women had no way of knowing at that moment what Matthew 28:2–4 records. I love the wording in Matthew 28:2: “An angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” Can you fathom the angels’ horror when humans mocked, spat on, beat, flogged, and crucified the Son of God?

Imagine the joy of the angel whose thunderous arrival caused the ground to shake. God chose him to be the one who rolled back the stone—not to free Jesus, but to reveal Him already missing! Can you picture the angel’s gleaming face as he perched on that stone? The guards were so afraid that they shook and became like dead men. The graveyard needed a few folks acting like dead men, since a number of the formerly dead were suddenly walking the streets (see Matt. 27:52–53). I’m about to have to shout hallelujah! The women entered the tomb, but they did not find the body.

Acts 2:24 tells us exactly why Christ was raised from the dead: “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Some things are simply impossible—and death keeping its hold on Jesus is one of them.

Mind you, the women didn’t yet understand. Luke 24:4 tells us “while they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.” John’s version hints at these two celestial ambassadors’ assignment. He tells us the two angels were seated where Jesus’ body had been, “one at the head and the other at the foot” (John 20:12).

Quite possibly, these angels also guarded the body of Jesus while it lay “in state” in the sepulcher. The Old Testament tabernacle contained a marvelous picture foreshadowing this moment. The ark of the covenant represented the very presence of God. In Exodus 25:17–22, the very specific instructions for the “mercy seat” (kjv) or “atonement cover” (niv) on the ark of the covenant demanded the cherubim to be in exactly that position. Do you see the picture? No, I can’t be dogmatic that the cherubim prefigured the angels at Christ’s head and feet—but I am personally convinced. Jesus has always been the means by which God would “meet with” humanity (Exod. 25:22).

If the cherubim prefigured the angels in the tomb, can you imagine how they guarded the body through the wait? With their wings overshadowing Him, they faced each other, looking toward the cover. Picture their reactions when the glorified body of Jesus sat up from the death shroud and walked out of the tomb, right through the rock. Wouldn’t you have loved to hear as Christ thanked them for their service?

Glory to God! Though the news echoed throughout the heavenlies at the moment of Christ’s resurrection, the angels probably longed for God to turn on their volume in the earthly realm and announce it to the mortals. At the sight of the angels, the women fell on their faces. The celestial guards announced to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” The what? The living! “He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:5–6).

Oh, glorious, merciful, omnipotent God! He is risen indeed! I cherish the next five words of the angels: “Remember how he told you” (v. 6). Beloved, have you forgotten something He told you? Christ, our Lord, is faithful to His promises. If you’re not presently “seeing” Him at work in your situation, do not live as if He’s lifeless and you’re hopeless. Believe Him and expect Him to reveal His resurrection power to you!