Yesterday, we concluded by saying that there were different suggestions why the women may not have chosen to come to have a closer look at the tomb. The first possibility was being in a graveyard so early in the morning.
Or again, there was the edict of Rome. The tomb had been sealed by Pilate’s order. The soldiers were stationed at the tomb in order to guard it. Now, something had happened: the stone had been removed, and that meant that the seal had been broken, and Rome had been disobeyed. The women might have said, “Oh, but Rome forbids us, we can’t come closer. We can’t look in.” They might have failed to come for that reason.
Or again, just to go a bit deeper into the matter, their own sin might have hindered them. Here was something holy. Here was something miraculous. They might have said, as Isaiah had, “Oh, but I am unclean, I cannot come.” We would understand that and recognize that it is sin that keeps us from God.
And yet, here was the glorious invitation of the angel to come forward—the same kind of invitation that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself had given on so many occasions: “Come unto me.” The women recognized in the invitation of the angel the authentic voice of God, and they obeyed.
I wonder if you have obeyed that. The Lord Jesus Christ, through His Scriptures and through the preaching of the Gospel, gives an invitation to all men at all times to come. He has given that invitation to you. He has said, “Come to me. Learn of me.” He said, “I am meek and lowly of heart. Take my yoke upon you and ye shall find rest for your souls.” I wonder if you have come? Have you responded to that first invitation? There is no growth in the Christian life, there is no increase in knowledge and wisdom, until you first of all respond to the invitation that is given.
So the first word is a very practical one, the word “come.”
And then the second imperative the angel said was, “See the place where the Lord lay.” That’s an interesting invitation, I think. Why should they see it? Because, after all, He is not there. He is risen. He is gone. Why should they go to see the grave? Why should we see it? Well, think for a minute with me, if you will, about why we should see it and how we may profit by seeing it.
First of all, we see the grave in order that we might understand the great condescension of the Lord Jesus Christ that took Him there. Because, you see, the Lord Jesus Christ is not just a mere man, for whom this would be perfectly natural. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord. He is Jesus, Jehovah, the Savior, Christ, the Messiah. He is the one who dwelt with God in all eternity—who was God, equal to God, equal in all power and glory. And yet it was the same Lord Jesus Christ who set aside the glory and took upon Himself the form of man in order that He might die. And we say, “Oh, the condescension of such a glorious God, who would come from the glories of heaven to this earth and die and lie in such a tomb.” We look at the grave and we see there the love of our Lord.
We see something else, too. We see the horror of our sin that placed Him there. He didn’t die for His own sin. He died in our place, for our transgressions. It was our chastisement that was upon Him, as Isaiah says. We see the Lord crucified, we see the Lord buried and we say, “It is my sin that brought Him to that end.” And we recognize anew the great love that would cause Him to die for us.
