Am I Releasing Christ or Keeping Him Entombed?

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[a] of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.

Matthew 27:65

A Church in Oklahoma had some beautiful pine trees which adorned the property. During a bad storm several of them were hit by lightning. It destroyed two of them and badly damaged others. The church board met and one of the members asked the chairman, “What are we going to do about this? We can’t keep losing our trees!” The chairman gave a tongue-in-cheek reply: “Very well, I shall entertain a motion of this body to have the lightning stopped!”

This reminds me of verse 65 of our scripture passage. The Jews wanted to take special steps to guard the tomb. Pilate gave these instructions: “Take a squad of soldiers and make it (the tomb) as secure as you can.”

Unconsciously, Pilate was saying, “Keep Christ in the tomb!” He may as well have asked them to keep the sun from rising, or stop the law of gravity, or keep the stars from appearing. In others words, it was an impossible mission that those soldiers were sent on.

But, in any event, they took their steps. The door of the tomb was closed by a great round rock, shaped like a huge cartwheel which ran in a groove. It is estimated to have weighed over two tons! But one thing existed that they just did not reckon with—there was not a tomb in all the world which could imprison the Son of God!

Rocks have never been a problem with God. This includes Moses’ water shortage in the wilderness. It included the so-called impregnable walls of Jericho. In the Resurrection Garden, God Almighty was laughing at man’s puny efforts. Psalm 2:4 says, “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.” When God sets out to do something, it shall be done!

Jesus had openly and clearly declared His resurrection and no power on earth or in hell could prevent it from occurring.

• The soldiers couldn’t prevent it.
• All of Rome couldn’t prevent it.
• The stone in front of the tomb couldn’t keep it from happening

Something mysterious and yet wonderful happened inside that tomb. It was a transformation. Death yielded to life. Darkness gave way to light. Defeat surrendered to victory.

Every time a person is born again, this resurrection scene is repeated, in a sense.

For you see, the human heart is like a tomb, full of sin and the odor of death. There is a stone set before the entrance. It is a mark of separation–keeping self imprisoned and God out.

And the message of Easter is simply this: The Resurrection of Christ has opened the way for God to make us alive unto Himself here and in the hereafter.

Every time a Christian lets God fill him with His presence and power, another miracle takes place. Its called the Great Release. It’s the release of Christ through our personalities to reach out to a lost and dying world. And there is no power that exists that can keep Christ in, outside of our won will. The great question of the hour is, “Am I releasing Him or keeping Him entombed?”

Dear Friends are we trying to keep Jesus imprisoned in rituals, creeds, traditions, theology, and history without realizing He cannot be contained.

May The Lord help us to understand.

May God Bless You All.