A number of years ago I had the opportunity to visit Israel. I was privileged to walk the streets of Old Jerusalem and see many of the sites held by much of the world to be holy places.
Among those sites were the remains of what is believed to have been the Garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord suffered and bled from every pore, the hall where He was judged of the world and condemned to die, and the hill that is believed to be Golgotha.
I also visited the Garden Tomb, where we believe the mortal body of our Lord, Jesus Christ was laid to rest after the crucifixion. It was a beautiful restful place and I was blessed to have arrived late, after the tours had left, and spent about a half hour alone there, contemplating the scriptures.
The door to the Garden Tomb is open. All who desire, may enter therein and look upon the place where our Lord and Savior once lay, and contemplate the words of the angel, “He is not here. He is risen!”
I also visited the place where the Tetrarch Herod was laid to rest, outside the walls of Old Jerusalem. His tomb is built below ground level. While there is a huge round stone rolled to the side, which once sealed the entrance to the tomb, the doorway remains sealed by an iron door. The surrounding grounds lay in ruins.
I thought how like our lives are these two tombs. Christ broke the bands of death and thereby all mankind will be resurrected from death and will become immortal. The stone has been irrevocably rolled away. However, only through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance of our sins will the tomb truly be opened that we may inherit the Eternal Life He offers. Those whose hearts are lost in the vanity of the world will remain locked behind the iron door, their eternal salvation estopped forever.
The Savior rolled away the stone. The iron door is ours to open or leave shut. We have the key. He gave it to us.
May we all enjoy peace and rest on this Easter Morning.