Caves, by their nature are cool places. They are naturally dark. They are places where we take light with us when we venture there. Tombs are caves whose dark beauty is filled with the presence of the dead. The tomb we focus on is the most heinous and beautiful one ever conceived.
A few men and women come to this empty tomb, racing against the setting sun and baring a dreadful burden. It belongs to a wealthy Pharisee but is being given to an itinerant Rabi. There is time only to wrap the body. Properly applying the spices and setting the dead man to rest will need to wait until after Passover. The people who care about this body, this man, need to depart for the Passover and abandon what is left of their hope in a cold tomb.
A Roman guard is set outside the tomb. It is sealed with the mark of the Governor. No one dare approach this place. The man inside is dead. There are some who doubt this but those who killed him are professionals who do their job properly. They were sure enough that he was dead not to break his legs. The man inside this tomb is dead.
What I want to say is simple. I put him that tomb. I killed Christ. It was not the Jews, nor the Romans. It was me. My sin put Christ on the cross. You see the only way to mitigate the debt of sin owed to God is the death of someone sinless. Sin is always a choice. We can talk about original sin and our fallen natures until Sunday but it always comes down to choice.
Even at my youngest those things that I did wrong were by choice. I knew it was wrong when I spread jam on my mother’s bed sheets at age two because I was bored. It is the first sin I can recall, but it is the one that disqualified me. It is the sin that made me unworthy to pay the price. All of us chose our sin. We are all guilty. Had just one of us chosen not to sin we could have died for all the others but God knew.
Before he made the earth that held the dust from which he made Adam he knew what we would choose and that it would cost him his dearest blood. And how do I honor that blood today while that body is in the tomb? I acknowledge that I am a sinner. What we see, the tomb, the seal, the soldiers, the grief, and all that we do not see are my fault. If I dare to believe that God would go so far for MY sin, then I must also believe that it is MY sin that crucified him. I dare not look to anyone else if I dare to claim Christ as my own.
So for now, he is entombed and I am guilty. He gave his life freely but I murdered him just the same. It is a dark painful day and the Son of God is dead….but time moves on.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
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