When Pilate learned from the centurion
That Jesus was indeed dead,
He gave the body to Joseph of Arimathea!
Mark 15:45 AMP
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they might anoint Jesus’ body. As they were on their way to the tomb, they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, Who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.'”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid (Mark 16:1-8).
What John the Baptist had said of Jesus, “He is coming after me, the One whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” However, the people of Jerusalem and their leaders, (even the Lord’s own disciples did not comprehend): To us God’s message of salvation has been sent through Jesus. Yet, in condemning Christ they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.
Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
But God, He raised Jesus from the dead, and for many days He was seen by those who had traveled with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to the people (Acts 13:25-31).
So, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ.
And face it — if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything we’ve staked our life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, when we passed on to you how God raised up Christ — sheer fabrications if there’s no resurrection.
If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because He was indeed dead. And if Christ wasn’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves.
If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry, miserable lot. But the truth is Christ has been raised up, the First in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.
There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a Man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:12-23 MESSAGE).
Just as the Father raises up the dead and gives them life
Makes them live on.
Even so the Son also gives life
To whomever He wills and is pleased to give it.
John 5:21 AMP