Vacancy

When Joseph brought his pregnant wife to Bethlehem he tried his best to get her into a place where she could give birth in relative comfort. He kept running into ‘No Vacancy’ signs. He ended up in a cave.

Eventually the son that was born in that cave ended up hanging on a cross on a hill called ‘Skull Hill’. When His last breath left Him He ended up in another cave. His body lay there, never to breathe again.

The thing is, when the women went there on Sunday to give proper care to His lifeless body, there was an angel there with this message: “He is not here.”

Joseph of Arimathea would be able to use his own tomb, after all. It was now vacant. Empty.

Have you ever looked down in a grave before a casket was placed in it? Have you ever been in a mausoleum? Ever stepped into a cave that was hewn out to be a tomb?

Empty only describes part of the experience. It not only looks empty, it feels empty. There’s an eeriness to the surroundings, the air seems different, it’s unearthly quiet.

When the women showed up at Jesus’ tomb on Sunday they probably didn’t experience any of this because they were trying to figure out what had happened. All they had to do was listen to the angel. This tomb was now vacant.

Jesus was no longer there. He wasn’t there any longer because He was no longer dead. He had risen from the grave and thus left death behind along with its eeriness and emptiness.

The angel told them something else: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” The tomb was vacant, but that didn’t mean that Jesus was no longer around. The angel told the women where the apostles would see Him.

The Scriptures tell us where we can see Him as well. The altar is empty except when bread and wine are on it. There you see Him. When you approach the Lord’s Table, keep in mind the words of the angel in reference to the tomb: He is not here. He is now here, at His Table, for you.