It had to be like one of those zombie movies. Graves burst open and suddenly the streets are filled with mummy figures. People are running and screaming. Tattered grave clothes hanging off the half decayed bodies. It's Passover time so there are tons of extra people in Jerusalem. Scores gather in the Temple courtyard looking for refuge. The Chief Priests are besides themselves. The Roman guard rush to control the panicking crowds. Other soldiers gather to protect the city from this foreign invasion. It's nothing like they've ever faced before.
My imagination runs wild as I picture the scene at Jesus' death. First the earthquake, then the tombs break open, and the dead begin emerging from their graves and hit the streets of Jerusalem. What a trip. No wonder the centurion at cross said that Jesus was the Son of God. He was probably shivering in his sandals. I confess I would be. It's not like you see that kind of thing everyday.
Most of the time I or other teachers have focused on the meaning of the curtain in the temple being torn from top to bottom at Jesus' death. The fact that God no longer confined His presence in the Holy of Holies cannot be minimized. However, there is another image here that can't go unnoticed. It's the night of the living dead. How symbolic of what Christ has just done. Christ's death allows us to live. Over and over again the New Testament tells us that we were dead in our sins and trespasses, but that we were made alive in Christ.
The imagery of the bodies of many "holy" people rising is a picture of what Christ did for us at that moment. He made it possible for us to have life. As I give my life to Christ, I become a dead man (woman) walking. My body will perish some day. But until that day comes, I'm simply a living corpse. I'm alive in Christ. I will never die.
When people ask me how I'm doing, I often respond, "I'm alive." They usually say something to me like, "Well, that's better than the alternative." I agree and then proceed to tell them that I'm going to live forever. Now that usually catches them off guard. They always look at me kind of strange. And then I ask them, "Aren't you going to live forever?" The responses always vary. But it gives me a chance to tell them why I'm going to live forever.
Without Jesus' death on the cross, my physical death would be permanent death. But because I'm in Christ, I have life eternal life. I'm truly alive. When Christ returns, I'll experience the fullness of life in Him. But until that time, I'm just a living dead man. I'm not a mindless zombie. I'm not a vengeful mummy. I'm dead to sin and alive in Christ.
God, thanks for life in you. Life in the here in and now. Life in eternity with you. Help me live each day with the hope and assurance and the appreciation of true life in you.
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