The Stone Already Gone

On the first Easter morning, a group of women walked toward Jesus’ sealed tomb carrying grief too heavy for words. As they went, they asked one another a question that has echoed across centuries: "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" (Mark 16:3-4) But when they looked up, the stone – which was very large – had already been rolled away. God had done what no human effort could accomplish. This moment is far more than a historical detail; it is the defining answer to every crushing burden we carry. If God rolled away the largest stone of all, the stone of death itself, how much simpler is it for him to roll away the stones of worry, fear, and uncertainty that burden us? In removing that stone, he opened access to something extraordinary. Centuries earlier, Jacob had rolled a stone from a well and released water to thirsty flocks. Jesus echoed that image when he told a burdened woman at that very same well, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14) The risen Christ is the fulfillment of every rolled-away stone, and he invites every weary soul: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) The stone is gone. The water is flowing. Come and drink. (Craig B). Open Bible – bit.ly/Mar16v3-4, bit.ly/Joh4v13-14, bit.ly/Mat11v28