I see before me the tomb where the Lord’s body has been laid. Around the tomb, men holding torches stand guard—guards posted by Pilate at the request of the chief priests and Pharisees. The day after the Lord died on the cross, the chief priests, Sadducees, and Pharisees went to Pilate and made their anxious plea:
“Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come at night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Upon hearing these words, Pilate’s expression grew tense, clearly irritated by their persistent demands. Yet, after a moment’s hesitation, he bit his lip and replied,
“You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.”
The soldiers he referred to were Roman guards stationed near the temple, always on standby in case of unrest among the people. Pilate was telling them to take these guards and use them as watchmen for the tomb. In this way, just as he had during the trial, Pilate once again took a middle ground—his own way of expressing that he wished to be involved no further.
After hearing the centurion’s report of what had happened at the moment of the Lord’s death, Pilate was overcome with fear at the thought that Jesus truly might have been the Son of God. Though he had handed Jesus over under threat from the Jewish leaders, he could not escape his own responsibility. To have allowed the Son of God to be put to death was already a grave offense; to interfere with His resurrection would only add to his guilt.
Pilate wished to refuse their request, but he knew that doing so might lead the leaders to send a letter to Emperor Tiberius, risking not only his position as governor but even his life. With his ties to the executed Sejanus, Pilate could not afford to make a single misstep in the emperor’s eyes. Thus, the only course he saw was to grant them the guards and remove himself from the situation as quickly as possible.
It was these very leaders—those who had handed the Lord over to Rome for execution—who sealed the tomb and stationed Pilate’s guards to keep it secure. Even after all that had happened three days earlier, repentance did not come to their hearts. Wickedness continued. Thus, they showed themselves to be the very people whom God used for such an evil purpose in the Lord’s death.
About these worthless shepherds—leaders who treated their people as tools for personal gain—God had spoken through Zechariah long ago:
“Yahweh said to me, ‘Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded.’”
Unless these wicked shepherds repent of their sins and return to the Lord, the coming calamity will cause them to vanish completely from history. But if they repent and come to believe in the Lord’s name, then another prophecy spoken through Zechariah will be fulfilled:
“I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.”
This prophecy began to be fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross.
* * *
Before the Lord died, the Jews approached Pilate, requesting that the legs of those crucified be broken so the bodies could be taken down before the Sabbath. The concern was to avoid violating the law given through Moses:
“If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.”
Yet the law did not apply to those still living. The crucified often survived for days, and there was no real need to hasten death. Fear of breaking the Sabbath or leaving bodies overnight led to this request. The leaders believed it was better to ensure all the condemned were dead before the Sabbath than to risk breaking the law themselves. Their desire to maintain ritual purity outweighed any regard for human life. When the law became an excuse for such cruelty, it was clear that they could not complain if God used them for purposes they did not understand.
Since he had already given Jesus over to be crucified, Pilate saw no point in denying this further request; thus, he ordered it to be done as they wished. As Pilate’s messenger was almost at Golgotha, a great earthquake occurred. At the very moment the Lord died and everything was accomplished, God showed the people of the world a most important message.
For the centurion and others who stood by the cross and saw the Lord die, this moment fulfilled prophecy.
“They will look to me whom they have pierced.”
At the same time, a spirit of grace and supplication was poured out, showing that even those who caused the Lord’s death could be saved if repentance followed.
“In that day there will be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”
To those preparing the Passover lambs, the earthquake brought fear and confusion. Spotless lambs scattered, some injured in the chaos. No matter how perfect the sacrifices, it became clear that God no longer intended to accept them. Through the death of the sinless Lord, the most precious sacrifice had been received; all other offerings lost their meaning.
“In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH’; and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.”
Just as the prophet Zechariah declared, through the Lord’s sacrifice, God made it possible for everything to become as holy as the bowls before the altar. The Canaanites—that is, the merchants who sold offerings in the temple—would no longer be needed. From now on, those who worship and offer sacrifices to God would do so not in the soon-to-fall physical temple, but in the new spiritual temple the Lord would establish. Through vessels and pots made holy by the Lord’s blood—in other words, through their own lives—people would offer to God the sacrifices He desires.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.”
That is love—the new commandment the Lord has given.
A final message was given for the priests who claimed that only through them could one approach God. Every day at three in the afternoon, the evening sacrifice began. On that day, the long curtain separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom. Nothing now stood between God and His people. Through the Lord’s obedience and sacrifice, and through the Holy Spirit who would soon be sent, God declared direct communion with humanity. Because of the Lord’s blood, everyone could now meet God. The priests did not understand, and some tried to conceal what had happened, but as long as witnesses remained, the truth would not be hidden forever.
After Pilate’s messenger arrived at Golgotha—after the Lord had already died—the soldiers broke the legs of the criminals on either side to hasten their deaths. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. Instead, they pierced His side with a spear to confirm His death. Up to that point, they had not been certain whether the Lord, whose head had fallen, was truly dead, so they did not connect the earthquake with His death. However, when they saw blood and water flow from the wound, they finally realized that all these things had happened at the very moment the Lord died. Startled and filled with fear, the centurion exclaimed,
“Certainly this was a righteous man, truly the Son of God.”
For those who had taken the life of the Son of God, fear and sorrow were inescapable.
Afterward, there came a time when two people who had secretly believed in Him revealed their faith to the world.
Before the Lord was arrested, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus—both members of the Sanhedrin—had feared the opinions of others and kept their faith in Him secret. But as they stood by and witnessed His trial and death, they came to understand what it truly meant to do what is right.
Joseph of Arimathea boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate, after summoning the centurion and hearing all that had happened, turned pale and, without a word, gave his silent consent. Joseph took the Lord’s body down from the cross and brought it to a new tomb he had carved out of the rock for himself. At that moment, Nicodemus also arrived, bringing about a hundred Roman pounds of myrrh mixed with aloes. Together, they carefully anointed the Lord’s body with spices and wrapped it in linen. As devout Jews, they knowingly risked becoming ritually unclean—by entering the governor’s court and touching a corpse—even though this meant they would not be able to partake in the Passover meal.
This was truly an event that made clear why God had divided each of these people into roles of evil and good. On one side, there were those who were willing to take the lives of others in order to keep the law; on the other, those who were willing to break the law in order to do what was right. As each revealed their true nature through their actions, there were still others—women and disciples entrusted with good roles—who had not yet come to this place, held back by lingering fear. Yet for them, unimaginable joy awaited: the visit of the risen Lord. It would happen today. They would meet the resurrected Lord and come to know with certainty who He truly is.
The Lord was the righteous servant who bore the sins of all, as prophesied by Isaiah:
“Who has believed our message? To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth. He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due? They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion with the great, and he will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
The Lord took upon Himself the suffering that people deserved and endured the sorrow that should have been theirs. He was pierced because of humanity’s transgressions and wounded on account of their sins. Though they had no understanding of this and inflicted suffering upon Him, it was the suffering permitted by God that brought His mission to completion. Through the cross, the Lord bore the sins of all people and died, yet from that very death, the light of life emerged.
This light of life will be proclaimed throughout the world by the Lord’s disciples—His spiritual descendants and heirs of faith who have received His teachings. That radiant gospel will bring righteousness to many. The Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice to save sinners, interceding on their behalf, so that whoever believes in His name will receive salvation. God the Father, the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will continue to accomplish this work.
So now, I must fulfill the mission entrusted to me: to go down, roll away the stone from the tomb, and, together with the other angel, be the very first to greet the risen Lord.
* * *
There was a great earthquake around the tomb guarded by the soldiers. As they were terrified and amazed, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the heavy stone, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow. The guards were so afraid of the angel that they shook with fear and became like dead men. At that moment, an incredibly bright light, far surpassing the angel’s, burst forth from inside the tomb. As the soldiers covered their eyes in amazement at the light, the angel who had been sitting on the stone entered the tomb, followed by another angel.
The guards all fled to the city, and some of them went to the chief priests to report what had happened. The chief priests and elders gathered together and, after discussion, gave them a large sum of money with the inscription of the Tyrian shekel and instructed them to say, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.” They promised that if this came to Pilate’s ears, they would protect them from any harm. Thus, the leaders continued to defy God’s will until the very end.
The passages from Deuteronomy 21:22-23, Isaiah 53:1-12, Zechariah 11:15-17, 12:10, 13:1, 14:20-21, Matthew 27:54, 63-65, 28:13, Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47, John 15:12 quoted in this narrative are taken directly from the World English Bible (WEB) translation. Of the parallel passages, I have combined them into a single version that includes all the content.
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