On this Good Friday I try to put myself to that time and place. It was at the tomb where Jesus was laid that the miracle of all miracles took place. He arose!

    Matthew 27: 57-60

    As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in a new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

     By Jewish law, a deceased body must be buried by sunset.

    John 19: 39-40

    Arimathea was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it with the spices in strips of linen.

     At this point in time, the disciples of Jesus were known as “The Eleven.” These devout followers of Jesus had scattered on that terrible Friday, except for John, known as “the one Jesus loved.” John had stayed at the foot of the cross throughout the day and had witnessed the agonizing death of his Lord.

    John 20: 1-2

    Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”

     The distance between the tomb and where Mary Magdalene found the disciples was a few miles. The disciples were slumped together in unbelief.

    John 20: 3-7

    So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then, Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

    According to scripture, the burial strips and napkin were folded neatly.  What does it mean? We know, again according to scripture, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,  he emerged from the tomb with burial strips still around his body. But when John and Peter visited the tomb of Jesus, the body was gone and his burial linen was as if he had descended right through the cloth, especially the napkin that covered his face. Why was that? Without a doubt, Jesus was resurrected just as he lay in the tomb descending through the burial cloth, leaving them undisturbed.

    Lately, there have been lively discussions pertaining to this miracle that took place on that Easter Sunday morning so many years ago, and the undisturbed strips of linen.  The unbelievers have planted myths and distractions, stories that go beyond  comprehension. The lies upon their lips try to twist the meaning of God’s Word.

    But, like Peter and John, I believe.

    Happy Easter.

 Anne McKee is a Mississippi historian, writer and storyteller. See her website: www.annemckeestoryteller.com