Week 14 An Empty Tomb; Real Shock and Awe

Something marvelous happened that Resurrection Day morning that passes most Christians right by. Jesus, who up to that point had fulfilled all the four spring Feasts of Israel, (and there are three Fall Feasts still for Him to fulfill) and fulfilled them on their correct day, ( probably the most well known is that he was crucified as our sacrifice on the same day that the lambs were sacrificed for Passover) fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits on the exact day that the rest of Israel would be bringing their first fruits to the temple. At First Fruits Israelites would bring a small sheaf, the first, the earliest part, of their harvest. First Fruits was the promise of the full harvest that would later come. Jesus was the literal first fruit of the 'resurrection harvest'. Not sure?

Matthew 27:51-5 "At once the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks split apart. Graves opened, and many of God's people were raised to life. They left their graves and after Jesus had risen to life, they went into the holy city,where they were seen by many people".

Those people mentioned here were the 'small sheaf' of first fruits that Jesus brought along with him, the promise of the greater harvest of the resurrection of the rest of the Believers on some future day.

Still not sure what to think? There was an inscription discovered near Jerusalem in the 20th century . I've read that it was unlike any other Roman inscription found anywhere else. Dated to the approximate time of Jesus, it said that it was Caesar's pleasure that graves remain undisturbed, and that a law, "violation of sepulchre' carried the death penalty for people found to have disturbed graves. Isn't that odd, that at about the time of Jesus rising from the dead (leaving an empty tomb) that the Romans thought it necessary to enact such a statute? Something extraordinary happened there. Think about it.

Jesus' resurrection was, for us, indeed, truly 'shock and awe'.
Happy Easter!