I've read the story about the tomb and resurrection many times, but recently I heard the words 'the stone was rolled away for the disciples to see, not for Christ to get out.
Jesus kept telling people that after three days he would be raised. The Pharisees told Pilate that the tomb should be sealed until that third day because the disciples might come and steal Jesus so to prove that he had risen. Something they didn't want.
So the tomb was sealed and a guard was posted. On that third day, the two Mary's were at the tomb when an earthquake shook the ground and an angel from heaven came and rolled back the stone. It was empty. He told them that Jesus wasn't inside, that he had risen like he said and for them to run and tell the disciples.
When I was in Israel, I went to the Garden and saw the tomb. It was a small cave with a short stone bench on the inside and putting a rock over the door way would definitely keep a person from getting out. The only way to see if someone was still inside would be to roll the stone away.
I never thought about Jesus rising from inside the tomb and never really thought about why the stone was rolled away. I knew it happened, but never did it ever strike me that Christ actually rose up from within that sealed cave until now.
Nancy
