The Dumbest Order in History

Sometimes the Bible makes me laugh out loud. This past weekend, reading the Easter story, it happened again.

They're about to bury Jesus in a borrowed tomb. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, issues this command to his soldiers: "Make it as secure as you know how" (Matthew 27:65).

That has to be - at least in retrospect - the dumbest order in history.

Use a really big rock. Put on a really strong seal. Post some really intimidating guards.

Sure, Pilate was probably concerned about keeping meddlers out. Sorry, Governor, but that's not your problem. It's keeping Jesus in! And that is Mission Impossible!

No man, no plan, no empire can stand in the way of Jesus.

The stone? Rolled away. The seal? Easily broken. The soldiers? "So afraid...that they shook and became like dead men" (Matthew 28:4).

And Jesus? "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" (Luke 24:5). Or as our precious granddaughter said as she was waking up yesterday, "It's Easter morning. And Jesus is alive again!"

He's not "entombed" in dusty old history or in religious institutions and observances. He is the all-powerful, death-reversing, game-changing Savior who's proven there's nothing He can't beat. Unleashed that Easter morning, Jesus is, this very day, healing families, crushing Satan, lifting up the oppressed, protecting the vulnerable, reshaping nations, steering history, shattering addictions, defying disease, making sinners into living proof that He is alive.

And fighting for you - if you belong to Him. If you're not sure you do, then this living Savior is knocking on the door of your heart, seeking to do for you what He's done for millions who've let Him in. He walked out of His grave so He can walk into your life. He's offering to forgive every sin - because He died for them. He's standing ready to unleash His resurrection power on the things you can't fix, you can't change, you can't control.

Because nothing - nothing! - can stop Jesus.