Luke 23:50-24:12

It is interesting that we now discover that not all of the Jewish leaders were involved in the plot to kill Jesus; at least one Pharisee dissented, although his opposition isn’t mentioned in the accounts of the trials of Jesus. Joseph, from a town called Arimathea, was the man. He was wealthy as one might expect of such a person and had a tomb that had never been used. Having influence, he approached Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and Pilate agreed. In haste, he took the body down from the cross and quickly laid it to rest in his tomb, and had the heavy stone rolled into place before the sun set. The women from Galilee took note that they would need to prepare spices to complete the process as soon as the Sabbath was over.

Just after sunup they approached the tomb with their preparations, no doubt wondering how they would move the great stone blocking their way into the tomb, but when they arrived on the scene, the stone had already been removed. Quickly they discovered that the body was missing, and as they wondered what could have happened, they found themselves in the presence of two “men” dressed in robes that shown like lightning. The “men” asked why they were seeking the living among the dead and reminded the women of Jesus’ predictions concerning His death and resurrection…

The women hurried back to the disciples and told their story with great excitement, but the disciples thought it was nonsense. Yet Peter and John ran off to the tomb to see for themselves that it was empty.

Sadly however, they couldn’t comprehend what had happened there, for even after Jesus had told them three times that He would be handed over to evil men and killed, and then would rise from the grave on the third day, and even after the women had told them what the angels of the Lord had said, they simply couldn’t believe it.

Hadn’t Jesus warned them about this sort of thing just a few nights before?