A Stone Removed (A few words on the resurrection tomb)

 Why was the stone rolled away?

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. (John 20:1 NIV)

Jesus had been killed on a Roman cross only a few days prior. He was such a threat during his life that every available source of authority on earth signed off on his death sentence. The religious leaders, the Sanhedrin had condemned him. The military might of Rome had co-signed his sentence. The politicians saw they could curry favor with certain super-pacts by granting permission for this crucifixion. Jesus was such a threat in his life that he must be killed. And in his death he was such a threat that his body must be kept under lock and key. 

That brings us back to the initial question: why was the stone rolled away? We are not asking HOW was the stone rolled away, but rather WHY? 

If you are a Christian who has placed your hope in this life and the next in the resurrection promise of Jesus, then this is a question that should disturb you a bit. The Jesus who rose up from death the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:21-24) was the same Jesus who rose up from death Lazarus (John 11:1-44). He had promised his own resurrection and demonstrated his power of ailments, over materials, over spiritual powers, and over death itself. So if this Jesus was so powerful....why was the stone removed? 

I must ask a question,

Why was the stone removed? 

The power of Christ was on display,

What would a rolled stone prove? 

His might, his power, his majesty? 

Would the Sanhedrin now at last approve? 

They spit, they yelled, they sealed his fate,

All his life they tried to reprove,

By his life, his death, his rising,

My life eternal improved,

I must ask one more time,

Why was the stone removed?

Did Jesus need to roll away the stone to exit the tomb? If we are to believe John 20:19-20 we know that Jesus can pass through and enter rooms with locked doors after his resurrection. What purpose would there be in removing the stone? He didn't need to roll away the stone so he could walk through. He didn't need the stone removed so someone could come assist him on his way. No infirmity was in his body any longer. He didn't need the stone rolled away to make room for a wheelchair or a stretcher. So why was the stone removed?

The stone wasn't removed for the benefit of the risen King of all Creation. The King didn't need the stone removed for himself. The King saw it as a way to benefit his people and signal his return from the dead. The rolled away stone was the demarcation that Jesus had died, taken death's lunch money, and returned one again. 

 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (John 20:2-8 NIV)

The stone had been removed for the benefit of those who would witness Christ's resurrection. The stone itself would have been a physical obstacle to the disciples to witness the empty tomb. Had Jesus claimed to have risen from the dead, but left the stone in place, there may be some other explanation. Perhaps his body decayed, or perhaps it was consumed by the earth over the course of time. The removed stone stands as a testimony, as an invitation. The removed stone calls out to a world with eyes to see to ask "where is the Lord's body?". The removed stone cries out to a world that hates death, plague, famine and war "Come and see the incorruptible on display".  

Even in the manner of Christ's resurrection, he was gently, but firmly, loving sinners and removing obstacles to their ability to witness. As Christians we have a chance to point to the removed stone during the season of Easter. We have a chance to witness to a dark, dying, plague infested world and introduce them to the one who promised eternal life.