the empty tomb

watercolor of the garden tomb in Jerusalem, Israel

"After all, when do we most need comforting? When we are on a mountaintop, or when we are in the pits? Without question, God knows full well when we need him most. How could we ever forget that our Savior Himself was buried in a quarry? 

When Joseph of Arimethea had taken Jesus' body down from the cross, he wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a "tomb cut in the rock." Had the story ended there, of course, there would be no comfort in Christ. The quarry of death would have held captive its prey...but the psalmist's words have meaning for us precisely because they had meaning for Jesus: "From the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again." By the ropes of his divine power, God lifted up "a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation" of his temple. By those same ropes of grace, God lifts us up from the bosom of his heart and give us new life, new hope, new vision for what he has called us to be. The prophet Isaiah changes the metaphor so that not just Christ is hewn out and lifted up as the chief cornerstone, but we ourselves become hewn from him who is the Rock of Ages. "Listen to me," says Isaiah, "you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn." Is there a greater expression of hope and expectancy? "The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singling."

Comfort. Compassion. Joy. Gladness. Thanksgiving. Singing. All from the depths of a heaven-like quarry. All from the immeasurable depth and breadth of the heart of an ineffable God." --excerpt from "Meeting God in Holy Places," by F. LaGard Smith

Jesus Christ wins, He conquers death, He walks out of the empty tomb...

He knows the end from the beginning...

He began with the end in mind...

"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:26-27) 
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me...Because I live, you also will live." (John 14:6, 19)

the empty tomb

the empty tomb

entrance to the empty tomb--March 2000

garden tomb in Jerusalem, Israel

path leading to the garden tomb

What does the empty tomb mean to you?

Jesus, the One and Only

Beth Moore opened our "Jesus, the One and Only" Bible study by sharing the Scripture Luke 24:45-48, "Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 

Beth Moore prayed, "Open our minds, beginning at Jerusalem, to receive a fresh anointing, to receive power, to be clothed in power for the rest of our lives."

Excerpt from the book, "Meeting God in Holy Places," by F. LaGard Smith: "We will walk together in the land of Israel, rediscovering the holy places where God interacted with his chosen people in a special way. I say, "holy places," knowing that it is not the places themselves that are holy, but the recorded presence of God in those places that has made them so. We will walk up the Mount of Olives and stop to meditate in the quiet of the Garden of Gethsemane. You can almost see Jesus weeping over it, crying once again, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." 


Jerusalem was always special to God. It was Jerusalem where God chose to have Solomon build the temple. Jerusalem, where Jesus made his triumphal entry on the foal of a donkey. Jerusalem, where the Good News would first be preached by the apostles. No wonder we look forward to the heavenly Jerusalem! Somewhere in that lowly village of Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, God surprised us by coming into our world so that we might enter into His. 


This is the incredible impact of a visit to Israel. As you walk away from Bethlehem, or Gethsemane, or the Jordan River, your life will never again be the same. You've walked on "Holy Ground." You've touched and been touched. You've seen the face of God more clearly than ever before. This is the land where God chose to reveal Himself to us. Something deep within myself is prompted by what I see: a new thought, a different perspective; a grander vision of who I can be as a servant of God."

The Western Wall of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem

Walking up to the Western Wall of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem on March 16, 2000, I am struck with the reality of the exact location of where I am...


When Herod renovated the second temple at the end of the first century before Christ, he shored up the temple plaza on all sides by massive walls, up to six stories high. 


Although only half that height is visible above ground level today, the Western Wall is still impressive, particularly the 165-foot portion known as the Wailing Wall. 


I approach the Western Wall, reach out my hand and touch the unusually smooth surface of these formerly rough stones, made so smooth by so many people touching them over the centuries. 


This wall would have been just on the other side of the Holy-of-Holies in the Tabernacle...I wrote my prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, give us a heart and mind which worships You as the One and Only Holy God..." 


I signed my name and the names of my closest family members, folded the paper and placed it in the small cracks between the smooth stones of the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall, along with thousands of other small pieces of paper placed there each day.

Out of all the world, the Jews had been God's chosen people. To the Jews alone had God miraculously appeared in the cloud and in the sea. 


When the Glory of the Lord filled the temple, God was literally present in the midst of His people! "Destroy this temple," Jesus said, "and I will raise it again in three days." 


But the temple of which Jesus had spoken was His own crucified body. One day it was as dead as the stone covering His tomb, three days later it was brought back to life again by the incomparable power of His Resurrection! And here lies our hope. "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"

As I walk away from the Western Wall...I have not taken even the first step away from God's Presence...the Spirit of Christ Who dwells in the innermost part of me, taking Authority over my soul--the seat of my emotions, and my body--my fleshly desires and appetities. All Praise, Honor, and Glory to You, my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of the Living God.