The loudspeaker crackled and a woman’s voice announced, “The Garden Tomb will be closing in ten minutes.” Dusk was falling and the air was turning cooler. I (Wes) looked at my friends and said, “Let’s go to where they have prepared Holy Communion. We only have a few minutes left.”
We found our designated area, a small rock table under an olive tree. On the table were three portions of bread and juice. We agreed to say a consecration prayer, then each would receive the elements when he was ready.
After the prayer, God said to me, “Take the bread and the juice. Go back to the empty tomb, and take Holy Communion.” I protested, “What will my friends think? This place is closing in four minutes. There is no time.”
God spoke again in my heart, “Take the bread. Take the juice. Go back to the empty tomb, and take Holy Communion.”
I quickly picked up the bread and juice, hurried across the garden and down the steps, and sat alone on a rock opposite the Garden Tomb.
I looked at the bread and the juice, then at the tomb . . . the EMPTY tomb. I thought of Matthew 28:6,
“He is not here; he has risen!”
I was suddenly overcome with the reality of Christ’s sacrificial death and the power of His resurrection. Tears flowed down my cheeks and onto the ground, where perhaps, Mary, Peter, Mary Magdalene, and others once stood.
I lifted the bread and the juice and prayed, “God, reveal more to me about the power of Easter and the empty tomb.”
What will you do this week to reflect on the meaning of the empty tomb?
What will you do on Easter Sunday to celebrate the power of the resurrection?
Dare to ask God to show you the power of the empty tomb!
God’s passion for His people can not be extinguished. Do you embody this same passion?