Scripture to Read: Matthew 27:57-66 & 28:1-15
Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. His body was removed from the cross, and Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilate to put Jesus in his own tomb. In Matthew 27:62-66, we find the chief priests and the Pharisees in a meeting with Pilate. These so-called religious leaders were afraid that Jesus’s disciples would steal Jesus’s body, trying to prove that Jesus rose from the grave. Let’s not miss the fact that Jesus’s disciples had been told numerous times, by Jesus, that He would rise on the third day, but the disciples seemed not to remember Jesus’s promise. It was the chief priests and the Pharisees who remembered Jesus’s promise, and they were worried something might happen. So, Pilate gave the chief priests and the Pharisees permission to have guards secure the tomb. But, nothing was going to keep our Lord from fulfilling His promise. On the third day, the first resurrection morning, our Lord Jesus Christ completely defeated death and rose from the grave. The guards, who were to protect the tomb to make sure Christ’s body stayed in the grave, according to Matthew 28:4, “shook for fear of him and became like dead men,” when an angel of the Lord showed up. No doubt, the resurrection happened, for God made this clear in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”
Challenge & Application
What stood out to you today as you read God’s Word and this devotion?
Who will you share the resurrection story with this week?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!