"THE SPEAKING STONES" (Pastor Tom Henry) ~ 4/7/26

“And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.” (Mark 16:2-4)

These devout women were on their way to the tomb to perform that loving service for which they had before made preparation but had to postpone due to the Sabbath. When the Sabbath was ended and it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, and these women were making their way back to the tomb, they realized that there was a problem: “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door?”

These women unwittingly expressed in a figure the great universal problem that has faced all humanity since the fall. Death is that great prison house from which mankind has no power of escape. Who is able to free us from the seal of death? “If a man die, shall he live again?” Death itself is an immovable stone. “The stone… was very great.” Also, death is a Divine sentence, stamped with the seal of the law. As a royal guard stood watch, the seal of God’s vengeance was set upon it.

The answer to the question for which human wisdom has no answer was discovered by the women upon their arrival at the tomb. Today we celebrate the defeat of an enemy which mortal man could never have conquered. God Himself rolled away the stone. By His authority the angel rolled back the great stone and sat defiantly upon it. Jesus said, “No man taketh it (my life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” (John 10:18)

The stone was not rolled away to let the risen Christ out of the tomb. The stone was removed to allow the witnesses in to see that the tomb was empty, except for a folded napkin and His undisturbed “grave clothes”. The risen Christ’s body was a “spiritual body,” which could pass through solid objects. It is also a body like we shall have when we “awake with His likeness:” for “…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (Psa. 17:15; I John 3:2)

The stone rolled away tells us that the grave is but a temporary holding place for Christ’s redeemed people. Unless the Lord shall return first, we must all go the way of all flesh, but our victorious Lord has removed the seal. We must follow our Lord into the tomb, but we shall also follow Him out. Death could not keep Him as its prey, and His victory over the grave is our victory too. The saints shall pass in, but we shall not be shut in.

“Lives again our glorious King!

Where, O death, is now thy sting?

Once He died our souls to save,

Where thy victory, boasting grave?”

The stone rolled away testifies that our Lord has broken the legal seal of death. It was a great stone, but Christ had effectually satisfied the law’s demands. He came forth, not as a felon breaking out of prison, but as having paid the debt in full. The heavenly officer was therefore commissioned to open the prison door. However, it was the debt of His people that He went there to pay, therefore, “…was raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25)

The stone rolled away speaks of the keystone of the Christian faith. The stone rolled away from the door of the tomb certifies the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the foundation stone of the Christian religion. “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (I Cor. 15:14) “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (I Cor. 15:17) All of the great doctrines, which make up “the faith,” fall like the stones of an arch if the keystone is dislodged. But thanks be to God, when these godly women came to the sepulcher early on that Lord’s Day morning, they became the first of many witnesses to the fact that Christ is risen.

Had the crucified Christ not come forth from the grave alive, the Christian religion would not have survived the first century. His little group of followers would have quickly disbanded. He would not have given the Great Commission before ascending back to heaven. There would have been no descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. There had been no spreading of the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, going through Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. The little “mustard seed” Church would never have grown into the giant tree with branches spreading throughout the whole world, as we see it today. Christ’s cause would have ended with His death, just like other first century religious movements that died with the death of their founders. (See Acts 5:36-38)

All glory be to God, the stone rolled away proclaimed, along with the angel, “…He is risen, as He said.” The removed stone also declares, in no uncertain terms, that Christianity is the only true faith, and Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior.