Opening the Tomb (Kever)
The empty tomb of Yah'shua (Jesus) of Nazareth represents not only the most amazing event in history since the creation but extremely good news for mankind, bounded on all sides as it is by what seems to be relentless fate with no hope after death. Yah'shua the Messiah was not only the very first human to be raised from the dead but to become physically immortal:
"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Master Yah'shua (Lord Jesus). While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'' Then they remembered His words" (Luke 24:1-8, NIV).
The very fact that this has happened means that we too will be raised from the dead at some time after our deaths. There will be no cessation of existence. We will continue living consciously, rationally and experientially. This will happen whether you accept Yah'shua (Jesus) as your Deliverer/Saviour or not. This raising of the dead - known as resurrection - will not be the same for everyone, though. There are two major kinds. For there is a resurrection to eternal life as well as a resurrection to condemnation for those who don't change their ways.
In addition to this being an historical event witnessed by thousands of people, the rolling away of the stone from the tomb entrance represents the setting free of mankind from the imprisonment of wrong thinking, feeling and behaviour.When we become detached from reality by believing in lies, we isolate ourselves from people and circumstances, finding ourselves unable to interact with either in a positive or constructive way. Then everyone's 'truth' becomes relative and unreal. We believe that the universe is rational and that its laws are uniform throughout, both in the physical and spiritual dimensions. Because of our finiteness, though, we just can't get the "big picture" on our own. But neither do we have to struggle our way through the maze of complexities and paradoxes that is life where objective reality gets lost in fantasy. Yah'shua (Jesus), who is supernature, divine, and the full manifestation and expression of All Truth, is able to navigate us through these confusing and turbulent waters by plotting a direct course into safe harbour. When we call upon Him, the stone that covers our tomb of self-deception and delusion is rolled away, allowing His light to flood in and to lead us out of captivity, just as angels rolled away the stone that covered His tomb - He could not be contained in the death that man chose in rebellion against the Creator, a death which He voluntarily entered (spiritually and physically) in order to deliver us out of bondage.
Yah'shua's (Jesus) rolls away the stone of imprisoning and death from the opening our lives and offers us Life instead. That He has the power to do so is witnessed by His own physical resurrection to immortality. This witness encourages us to trust Him to be able to deliver us both while we are alive - here and now - as well as to believe that when we finally die it will be but a passage to another existence.
This is what happened to me. I was entombed in all kinds of notions - atheistic, agnostic and even false religious ideas - about the purpose of life, Elohim (God) and eternity. One day while I was listening to a teacher of religion expound on his (non-Christian) beliefs, Elohim (God) suddenly broke into my mind with a very loud and clearly audible voice, and said, "No!" - that was this man was sayingw as not the truth. And in an instant I knew that Yah'shua (or Jesus as I knew Him then) was Elohim (God). Thus the first door to my soul was opened which led me to search for the truth within Christianity.
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