The Resurrection

Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?

                                                  Author Unknown

 

I looked on as the two Roman soldiers, warmed themselves by the fire they had built on the first night of their assignment. One had been sleeping earlier but was now was awakened by the other to take his turn at watching the tomb. Neither had allowed the embers to grow cool. The fire was stoked every hour or so. It gave off much needed warmth on these cool nights, and the light from its flames was a welcomed site in this eerie place.

 

There had been no visitors to the cemetery since they had been here, other than the keepers, who came to make sure the graves of the Pharisees were kept immaculate.

 

The guards had constantly complained to each other about having to pull such a duty. In all their lives as soldiers, they had never before been assigned such a menial task as guarding a dead man; especially one whom everyone seemed to think would get up and walk away. There was also much grumbling about the boredom that had come with the isolation from the other men.

 

As they were talking, the soldier whose shift was ending quickly turned his head in the direction of the tomb.

 

“Did you hear that?” he asked

 

“Hear what”, the other asked while turning his ear to listen.

 

“I could have sworn that I heard the whistling of a dove’s wings”,

 

“That is ridiculous”, “Your lack of sleep is making you much too jumpy.” “And besides, you’re beginning to unnerve me”, the other replied.

 

They both shrugged agreeing that the cemetery was starting to take its toll on them both.

 

As they were talking, I noticed the horizon beginning to take on a light purple hue. Daybreak would not be far away. The cool dampness of the early morning air brought an almost surrealistic calm about the area. A deafening silence had crept in all around us.

 

I noticed an ever so slight tremble to the ground beneath my feet. Thinking it might have been my imagination; I looked toward the soldiers, trying to find their faces in the still unlit garden. I wanted to see if there was any reaction to what I had just experienced. The flicker of the campfire gave only a distorted view, but it was evident by their insistent complaining, they did not sense what I had. 

 

There it was again. Only this time it was more prevalent, and unlike before, this time it had gotten the Romans’ attention. Their chatter had stopped.  So it wasn’t my imagination after all.

 

A few seconds later it came again; this time rumbling as if thunder had found its way beneath the earth and was rolling across the landscape.  Suddenly, what seemed to be a flash of lightning lit the dimly lit cemetery; only it did not come from the sky, but from the direction of the tomb.

 

A slow deep scraping of stone against stone could be heard. I looked in the toward the tomb but found that I could not see. This time it was not due to the darkness but rather the bright light. In fact, this light became brighter and brighter as the stone was rolling away from the mouth of the tomb. It was this point that I lost consciousness. When I awoke, the sky had brightened somewhat, but darkness still hovered in the recesses of the landscape. I looked again in the direction of the tomb. The soldiers were both prostrate on the ground, unconscious. The light of the morning had begun to illuminate the graves in the garden. I noticed the stone that once sealed the entrance to the tiny cave was moved to one side. The opening was clearly visible but the shadows that clung to the interior made it impossible to see inside. 

 

I rose from the ground and stood quiet and motionless.

 

A moment later I heard the rattle of the soldiers’ armor as they began to regain their senses. They looked toward the tomb, then toward each other. I heard them say to each other, almost in unison, “He’s Gone!” In a flash they too were gone. This would need to be reported and very quickly. The body was missing and even though this might mean their own execution they must report what they had seen…or rather had not seen.

 

Only seconds after the soldiers had left the scene,  I saw two apparitions that startled me even more. At first I thought them to be leaves on the morning breeze, yet there was no air stirring. Everything was completely still. In a moment they took on an eerie glow, growing brighter until they were snow white. As I watched, they seemed to flit around the mouth of the tomb for a moment, finally landing on the small ledge on which the body was laid, that had been carved just inside the tomb; one at one end and one at the other. The glow their “bodies” gave off allowed me to see that the body of the man was missing. I could see that the rags he had been bound in for burial were still there. Suddenly the apparitions began to grow in size and their shape began to change until they took on the form of men; men dressed in pure white. They sat there quietly as if waiting for something, or someone.

 

It was then that I began to hear voices approaching in the distance. They were the voices of women. As they approached, I could see they were carrying baskets. I could tell by the aroma that had wafted over to where I stood that the baskets contained some sort of strong herbs or spices,

 

“Who are we going to get to roll the stone back”, one asked

 

“I don’t know, but it would be useless to ask the soldiers for help”, replied the other.

 

As they drew near the tomb, they noticed that the soldiers were gone, and that the stone had been moved. As they leaned over to look inside, they saw the “men” sitting on the ledge.

 

One asked a question, “Why are you looking in the grave for he that lives?” He went on to say, “He is not here anymore, but he has arisen; He is alive! Look in the tomb and see where He used to lay.”

 

The women stood trembling, as if a cold wind had suddenly blown through their souls. It was only a few seconds until the men in white were gone, and they had departed much quicker than they appeared. They were there, and then they were gone!

 

At that moment the women dropped their baskets, turned, then began moving in the direction from which they came; walking at first, but the farther they went the faster they moved, until their gait became a full run. But one remained. She was distraught, that was easy to see. She stood weeping. Suddenly I saw a man standing behind her, asking her why she was weeping so. She answered that someone had come and stolen the body of her Lord and Master. He called her by her name, at which time she made an involuntary movement toward him to fall and touch his feet. He told her not to touch him, at least not at this moment. This seemed to satisfy her. Her tears had been turned to joyous laughter; her sorrow to joy. This could be seen even in her outward expression. A moment later she turned and went the way of the others. When I blinked my eyes, the man was also gone. It was long until, others began to gather at the mouth of the tomb; each one muddled around in what looked like disbelief at what had just occurred.

 

I could only stare at the little cave with bewilderment. My mind began to pour over all those things I had witnessed. Time seemed to be nonexistent. Each event that had taken place was as if it were only seconds ago.

 

It was then that I woke up. It had been only a dream; or had it? I could “remember” all the sights, the sounds, the smells of the events that had just taken place. As the morning shadows grew shorter, the cobwebs began to clear from my mind. I realized that I could never have been there, at least not at “that time”, but there was a time in my life that I was “carried” to that place and by the revelation of the Holy Spirit I came to understand that “He is risen”, and not only has He risen from the tomb, He has ascended to His throne, and has taken His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

Sam Everett