LOVING hearts had come to seek One whom they loved: a few short hours had passed since their hearts had been torn with anguish as they saw Him the object of man's scorn and reproach. The deep dark wickedness of man's heart had been manifested at Calvary, where the Lord of life and glory, the sinless One, the holy One, was nailed to the accursed tree. God had attested His delight and joy in Him from the opened heavens; His words, His works, had all given testimony to His holy spotless life. His accusers were unable to lay a finger on an act of sin; His judge had to say, "Why, what evil hath he done?”
Yet He suffered and died the just for the unjust, died in the room and stead of guilty man. "He was delivered for our offenses, and raise d again for our justification."
It is this last truth the Lord would teach us by the open and empty tomb; for the gospel not only tells us that He died, but that He also rose again. "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried, and rose again according to the scriptures." On the cross all was done, the mighty work was finished, full atonement was made, the triumphant cry of the One who had been despised and forsaken was, "It is finished." He bowed His head and died. Man led Him to Calvary, man nailed Him to the cross, man laid Him in the tomb, but God raised Him from amongst the dead.
Thus God set His seal upon that work, the work of His own beloved Son, the work of redemption. By the empty tomb God attests His acceptance of the payment which our Surety has made on our behalf. The One who lay there is now on the throne. The empty tomb speaks to us of the full satisfaction that God has found in the work of His beloved Son. God thereby says to all, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found all my delight." "He is not here; come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
The empty tomb, the Man in the glory, yield a full answer to all the evil accusations of Satan, as well as the dark foreboding and fear of our own trembling hearts. They speak to us, and tell us that all God's claims have been met, all the demands of His holy throne have been fully owned and settled, and now God can be just and the Justifier of all who believe on Jesus.
Oh, unsaved reader, hear the news, the glad tidings of salvation! God can and does now save all who believe in Christ, the One who died and rose again, in perfect keeping with His holiness and righteousness. The foundation of God standeth sure. Nothing can shake that, nor the soul that is resting there.
Dear reader, let me ask you, are you resting there, on the finished work of Christ? On the cross He said, "It is finished;" in the empty tomb we see the seal, God's own seal, of approval of the work of Christ; at the cross we see the full discharge of all our liabilities, and in the risen Christ we have the sign-manual of God Himself that all is eternally and divinely settled. Here all the questionings of an accusing conscience are met, all the trembling’s of a fearful heart are hushed.
A. E.