Sealing and Setting

Mother had these words underlined in her Bible in Matthew 27:66 and I keep being drawn back to them. "So they went and made the tomb secure; sealing the stone and setting the guard."

Jesus had said He would rise from the dead and the chief priests and Pharisees believed Him. They went to Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.' Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.' So the last deception will be worse than the first.
Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, and make it as secure as you know how."
So they went and made the tomb secure; sealing the stone and setting the guard.

Jesus promises us a resurrection of hope.
And sometimes, we are afraid of it.
And we destroy the promise and bury it.
We make the tomb secure;
sealing the stone
and setting the guard.

Self-righteousness has no idea what to do with the risen Lord.
It makes the tomb secure.
It strives to lock in the Redeemer,
sealing the stone
and setting the guard.

But Jesus, the Resurrected Savior,
did not need Angels to roll away the stone.
He could walk through obstructions.
Angels rolled the stone away
so we could come in and see the empty tomb.

It's time we stopped making our tomb secure.
It's time we stopped sealing the stone
and setting the guard.

It's time to be free.

We lock our dreams in the tomb,
fearing success, fearing failure,
and we seal the stone
and set the guard.

We lock our hearts in the tomb,
reserving segments of our love,
just in case we are wounded,
so we have some reserve,
and we seal the stone
and set the guard.

Oh Jesus!
You who broke the bounds of death!
Roll away the stones we have placed in front of our graves!
Call us forth like Lazarus to "Come forth" into the light of day!
Commission those around us to unwrap our grave clothes
and set us free!
Break the seals and the guards we have set over
the life of God within us!

Help us forget about dying
and help us to LIVE!