God graciously invites humble & sincere investigation.

Matthew 28:6 - "He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay."

Sometimes a scripture stands out to me because I have a question about it. Other times because I have learned more about how important it is to the larger context. This week during my reading, this verse stood out to me because of the amazing grace it demonstrated on the part of God toward these two grieving disciples and it moved me!

Jesus’ body was missing!

The Messiah of these two women had just been selfishly betrayed by one of their own (Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50), and after he received mock trials which broke multiple laws, they witnessed him experience a criminal’s death on a Roman cross (Matthew 27:55-56). These women had followed the preparation and burial of Jesus’ body so they would know where it had been laid to rest (Matthew 27:59-61).

Their plan was to return at an appropriate time to remember Jesus and give his body a more thorough preparation for burial since the first had been so rushed (Mark 16:1). 

Every culture has a practice by which they remember their deceased loved ones. To this day, there is a large Jewish cemetery on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. Family and friends go to these burial sites to remember the dead and place a rock on their graves denoting that their loved one has not been forgotten (the earliest graves were piles of stones placed on top of a body).