April 12
Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. - Romans 14:9, NKJV
Early Sunday morning, in the inky blackness before dawn, soldiers stood guard over Christ’s tomb. Knowing that to go to sleep on duty was an offense punishable by death, the highly trained unit remained alert. Some may have been rolling dice or stoking the fire to keep warm, but there was no question that all were awake and on duty. Their lives depended on it.
Suddenly, “there was a violent earthquake.” If, by chance, the soldiers had been distracted in their night watch, God now had their undivided attention! Almost simultaneously, the predawn darkness was split by a light so brilliant it looked like a laser of lightning! The “lightning” took the shape of an angel who seemed to reach from heaven to earth. Against the inky blackness of the night the terrifyingly awesome being fearlessly descended, walked over to the stone that blocked the tomb’s entrance, flicked it away as though it were dust, and then sat on it! And the gaping hole where the stone had been, revealed there was nothing inside the tomb! The tomb was empty!
From Just Give Me Jesus
