Matthew 28:1-6 says, “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his robe was as white as snow. The guards were so shaken from fear of him that they became like dead men. But the angel told the women, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here! For He has been resurrected, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.”

Why was the stone rolled away? Was it so Jesus could get out of the tomb? No! Jesus was already out of the tomb!

Matthew tells us that the women who went to the tomb, along with the Roman soldiers, witnessed the angel rolling back the stone and sitting on it. The guards fainted, but the angel comforted the women by telling them,

“He has been resurrected, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.”

In other words, the angel was saying, “You won’t find Jesus in this grave. He was already gone when I got here.”

So why did the angel roll the stone away? It wasn’t for Jesus. It was for the disciples. The women weren’t going to be able to roll the 2-ton stone away. They needed help if they were going to witness the empty tomb.

What the stone rolled away means for you and me is that we can have a new life.

Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God raises our spirits from the dead.

Jesus said, “Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me…has passed from death to life” (John 5:24; HCSB).

Colossians 2:13 (HCSB) – “When you were dead in trespasses…, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses.”

Romans 6:11 (HCSB) – “Consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

If you have not yet experienced the new life that is in Christ, you can turn to Him today. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to give you the gift of eternal life.