Jesus The Liberator: The Resurrection and Power

If Jesus was raised from the dead, what 

became of him and the power he possessed.

Between the Sunday the tomb was found to be empty and the day on which the disciples first began to proclaim Jesus was alive, there is a gap of fifty days. After the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus the disciples were in shock. Even after they knew that the tomb had been reported to be empty, they still faced a major problem with their own disbelief. So let's go back to the chain of events that began immediately after the resurrection had taken place.

On the Sunday morning after the crucifixion, before the sun had come up, Mary Magdalene slowly made her way to the tomb to finish anointing Jesus' body with ointments and spices.

On arriving at the sepulchre, she discovered the stone had been removed. Peering inside, she realized the body was gone.

I know this is the right tomb, she thought to herself. So she hurried to tell Simon Peter and John.

"They have taken the Lord from the sepulchre!" she cried. "I don't know where they could have lain him."

Peter and John were startled by this news and so they decided to go to the tomb and investigate it for themselves. The sun was just starting to come up over the Mount of Olives as they sprinted toward the tomb.

As they ran, Simon began to breathe heavily. Young John, anxious to reach the tomb, kept up his steady pace and arrived at the sepulchre first. Standing in front of the opening, he could clearly see the body was gone. When Peter arrived, he ran right into the tomb and saw the grave clothes were still wrapped, as though the body had just evaporated.

Mary had been right; the body was gone. Soberly they left the tomb and sauntered back to where they were staying. (John 20:1-10).

Mary returned to the tomb by herself. Disturbed because she thought the authorities had taken the body, she stood in front of the tomb and wept. Stooping to look into the sepulchre, she saw two angels in white.

"Woman, why are you weeping?" they asked.

"Because they took away my Lord, and I don't know where they've laid him," she replied.

While she was standing there, a man came up from the garden and said, "Why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?"

Thinking he was the gardener, Mary said, "Sir, if you took him away, tell me where you laid him."

"Mary," the man said simply. Instantly she recognized it was Jesus.

"Master!" she cried, falling at his feet.

"Don't hold me," the Lord replied. "Go to the brethren and tell them I am ascending to my Father."

What a flush of excitement filled Mary's heart as she ran to tell the disciples! But even though they heard Jesus was alive, and that Mary had actually seen him, they refused to believe her. (Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18).

When the sun had fully risen, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and some other women departed for the tomb from another part of Jerusalem. When they arrived at the grave, they were surprised to find the stone had been rolled away. Entering the tomb they saw the body was gone. While they were discussing what could have happened, the two angels appeared in front of them, and they fell with their faces to the ground.

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Take a look at the complete book Jesus From Nazareth: Liberator which is also available on the Fresh Light Source website.