Daily Devotional: Day 190
“And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2, NKJV).
Jesus’ resurrection was accompanied by a lot of dramatic events. Perhaps God wanted to send a strong message to satan and his cohorts that their plan against the Son of God had failed. Today’s opening Scripture from Matthew 28:2 gives us an interesting detail regarding Jesus’ resurrection. Early morning – on the first day of the week – Mary Magdalene and another Mary went to see the tomb where Jesus was buried. At this point, things get dramatic. First, there was an earthquake. Then, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven (traveling at what speed?), came to the tomb, rolled back the stone covering the entrance of the tomb, and sat on the stone. Amazing!
The above incident is filled with precious details intended for our edification. By rolling away the stone, the angel was signaling that satan and his demons were defeated. Moreover, notice that the angel sat on the very stone intended to shut Jesus in forever. In so doing, the angel made a mockery of Jesus’ enemies. In fact, in Psalm 2:4, the Bible declares that even God laughs at His enemies and the enemies of Christ: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.” Now, as a child of God who is risen with Christ (cf. Col 3:1), let’s see how this applies to you today.
The forces of darkness who hate Jesus are the same forces who seek your downfall. The good news is, through Jesus’ resurrection, you have power over them. They instigated the death of Christ and thought that Jesus was finished. Well, they were wrong – very wrong. Similarly, these same forces can plot to ‘bury’ you and roll a stone to shut you in – in the prison of fear, death, sin, satanic oppression, depression, sinful addictions, etc. But their ‘stone’ is rolled away in the Name of Jesus. You no longer have a reason to walk defeated looking like the “walking dead.”
You can, like the angel, sit on their stone (in a spiritual sense) in triumph; the stone that was supposed to shut you in; the stone that was supposed to keep the light from coming into your life; the stone which your enemies thought would forever silence you; the stone which was supposed to erase your memory from the earth; the stone which was supposed to put you away; the stone which your enemies thought was so heavy no one could roll it back; the stone which was supposed to be the end of your hope.
When they attack you, here’s what you can say: “You’ve made a mistake attacking me. I am walking in resurrection power. You may roll a stone over me, but my God shall roll it back. You may put me down, but you can’t keep me down. You may put me in the grave, but you can’t keep me in the grave.” Dear friend, be resurrection-minded in your daily walk.
May the blessing of the risen Lord be upon you today! Amen.
For further study: Daniel 6:1-28
Higher-Self Realities 