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8/3 Reading Portions: Judges 17; Acts 21; Jeremiah 30-31; Mark 16
Mark 16:3
And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
STONE
The gospel, and most especially Christ’s resurrection from the dead, is a truth hidden from the worldly heart and inconceivable to the natural mind (1 Cor 2:14). It is a several-ton stone that cannot be lifted or rolled away by the downcast spirit alone, neither by a simple desire for a better kingdom. There must be an event in the human heart to awaken the human soul— an event as supremely supernatural as the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ itself. And because Jesus is the “firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18), every resurrection that proceeded Him was a foreshadow of His resurrection, while every regenerate soul awakened to the gospel to believe and trust in Him, is a testimony of Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week. To let the women in to see the excellence of Christ’s prophetic Sign of Jonah (Matt 12:38-40), the Lord’s heavenly Father had done all the heavy lifting for them. Likewise, through Christ’s outstretched arm upon the cross, and by the Son’s rising from the dead before the rising of the sun (Mark 16:2), the heavenly Father has mercifully removed the final, enormous, immovable object which has kept us from serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, God has lifted our hearts of stone from our dead, unbelieving souls, and has given us a living heart and a new spirit (Ezek 36:26; 2 Cor 5:17), which now blesses, anoints, and serves Christ’s resurrected body, His church. While the way to the tomb was for these women a place of despair, its vacancy became a reason to rejoice. Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen indeed! And our risen Lord and King is coming again. Hallelujah! Christ is risen Savior!
The blessings of our God and King
May be seen in everything:
In both creation and His Word,
In silent pause and those things heard.