Life Through the Lens: The Easter stone

This post was contributed by Kevin Schrapel, and is the author’s personal opinion.

This stone is important to our family as it reminds us of family connections that span time and distance.

It reminds our children of the freedoms that came with staying with a grandma who loved them.

The Easter story spans time and space and has two focuses.

One is on the nailing of Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, to a cross where he died.

Friends took his body from the cross, wrapped it in cloths and placed it in a burial site cut into a rock face.

Authorities sealed the entrance with a large stone, with soldiers standing guard.

The second focus is on that rock face grave, the stone and what followed.

During an earthquake, the stone rolled back to reveal a grave, now empty except for the burial cloths which had been wrapped around the body of Jesus.

The rolling away of that stone has had massive repercussions through the ages.

That empty grave gives substance to many of the things Jesus said as he walked around the land.

Jesus had told that the day would come when religious leaders would falsely accuse him of speaking against what they believed about God, and this happened.

“For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he was breaking the Sabbath and calling God his own father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).

He promised a new relationship of love with God, his father, for everyone who trusted him, his actions and words (John 3:16).

Jesus showed he had the power and authority of God the father by his many actions of love when he healed people of all manner of sickness, even bringing a girl back to life (Mark 5:21-43) and giving life back to a friend who had been dead for four days (John 11:38-44).

The rolled-away stone and the empty grave should help us to accept everything Jesus said about himself and the relationship of love he wishes to have with us.

When he says, “I am the light of the world; I have the power and the love to bring love and light into the dark places in your life”, you can believe him, take it to heart and let him bring the joy to your life he has promised.

May you have a truly blessed Easter with the sadnesses and pains of life rolled back, and may the Jesus who came alive and left a tomb shine his love into your life.

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