Why was the stone in Jesus'tomb rolled out?

[I_Fortuna]

“Note, it was an angel that rolled the stone away. The guards “became like dead men” (they fainted from fear), and the stone was rolled away so the women (and others) could look in and see that Jesus was gone (the guards would not have moved the stone without authorization - remember, it had been sealed).”

Yours is a very good post, however, I believe that the guards were “struck as if dead” by the Holy Spirit, often called “Dying in the Spirit” or “Resting in the Spirit” as certain Protestant healing ministries which I formerly belonged to refer to it. Of course, the person does not actually die in the literal sense.
When one sees all those people fainting away at the healing ministry or on TV that is being “slain”, “killed”, or "resting"in the Spirit.

Believe me, this is perfectly genuine, although it has not happened to me, it happened to someone (pastor’s wife) who I know could not have faked this. She was standing next to me and BAM!, out she passes into the arms of one of the two persons designated to catch us should we be “slain”. She lay there for only a few moments and rose up as if nothing had ever happened.

It was almost comical and wonderful at the same time. So there you my have my explanation of what I am sure happened to the guards at the tomb.

I am now a Catholic, by the way.

 

[Cristian_B]

“Note, it was an angel that rolled the stone away. The guards “became like dead men” (they fainted from fear), and the stone was rolled away so the women (and others) could look in and see that Jesus was gone (the guards would not have moved the stone without authorization - remember, it had been sealed).”

Yours is a very good post, however, I believe that the guards were “struck as if dead” by the Holy Spirit, often called “Dying in the Spirit” or “Resting in the Spirit” as certain Protestant healing ministries which I formerly belonged to refer to it. Of course, the person does not actually die in the literal sense.
When one sees all those people fainting away at the healing ministry or on TV that is being “slain”, “killed”, or "resting"in the Spirit.

Believe me, this is perfectly genuine, although it has not happened to me, it happened to someone (pastor’s wife) who I know could not have faked this. She was standing next to me and BAM!, out she passes into the arms of one of the two persons designated to catch us should we be “slain”. She lay there for only a few moments and rose up as if nothing had ever happened.

It was almost comical and wonderful at the same time. So there you my have my explanation of what I am sure happened to the guards at the tomb.

I am now a Catholic, by the way.

And what’s the purpose of ‘resting in the Spirit’ anyway? Everything God does does it for a specific purpose … so what is the reason of being ‘slain in the Spirit’? How does that help you in any way?

 

[Tetiaroa]

Questions I was asking myself:

If Jesus resurrected as a man, with a man’s strength,He could not have rolled the boulder out himself from inside.Ah…, but he was God at the same time that He was a man,so He could roll any stone no matter how heavy.Yet, He could not carry the cross himself when He was hurting and weak(and He was a God then also).

Jesus was 100% Human and 100% God before his death. After his resurrection his human nature died and rose into a new life. Not human anymore.

Since the stone appeared rolled out, how come the guardian soldiers did not notice the stone was being moved from the inside? If they were sleeping, someone would argue that anybody could have stolen the body while they were in deep sleep.

The guardian soldiers noticed and saw it. They were NOT SLEEPING! They saw everything that happened. Please read Mt 28:1-4

And then why bother in moving the stone at all,Jesus ,being God, must have known that the women would go in the morning to annoint the body, and upon entering the tomb they would have found the body missing anyways.And besides, Jesus could come out of the tomb through the rock, not need to have an opening.

Jesus did not move the stone. He didn’t need to. He left the tomb before the stone was moved. The angels were the ones who moved the stones after he had left the tomb to Galilee. Again, please read Mt 28:2-7

Anybody care to comment on my doubts?I do not like to have doubts, and wish they dissipate and go away from me, so that I can concentrate on having a fruitful Lent.

Please help,Tam

Jesus entered our human world through a door labeled “NO ENTRY” = through a virgin.
Jesus left our human world through a door labeled “NO EXIT” = through a closed tomb.

I hope this helps.

 

[patrick457]

Jesus was 100% Human and 100% God before his death. After his resurrection his human nature died and rose into a new life. Not human anymore.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jesus did die in His human nature, but that does not mean that He’s no longer human post-resurrection. When He was raised, Jesus’ human body is transformed into a glorified body for which there is no future death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:35-56). It is not a different body, but the same body He had since birth: just transformed. After all, He apparently did not leave His body inside the sepulchre. Thus, there is a continuity between the pre- and post-resurrection body of Jesus.

Now, if Jesus actually discarded His humanity in His rising again, shouldn’t the tomb be NOT empty? Shouldn’t we expect to find Jesus’ corpse still lying inside it?

Jesus entered our human world through a door labeled “NO ENTRY” = through a virgin.
Jesus left our human world through a door labeled “NO EXIT” = through a closed tomb.

I hope this helps.

Good summary!

 

[miamijoe]

Also, as I’ve heard in a homily on the readings from last Sunday when Jesus entered the room where the apostles were, Scripture says that he ate a fish with them… that mentioning that was the writers way of saying that he was real, this was not a ghost or some inanimate object… heck, this former dead Man is now real, in front of us, even eating a fish to (in a way) prove He’s real.
(someone quick go get Thomas… he’s got to see this!)

 

[Tetiaroa]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jesus did die in His human nature, but that does not mean that He’s no longer human post-resurrection. When He was raised, Jesus’ human body is transformed into a glorified body for which there is no future death (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:35-56). It is not a different body, but the same body He had since birth: just transformed.

1 Cor 15:44 says “…It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.”

Jesus after his resurrection was raised a spiritual body. Not natural. If he is still the same he will still be subject to death as required for natural bodies.

After all, He apparently did not leave His body inside the sepulchre. Thus, there is a continuity between the pre- and post-resurrection body of Jesus.

Now, if Jesus actually discarded His humanity in His rising again, shouldn’t the tomb be NOT empty? Shouldn’t we expect to find Jesus’ corpse still lying inside it?

Understanding the meaning and context of Jesus rising without leaving his former body behind is important in understanding the resurrection of Christ.

The missing natural body or corpse of Jesus proofs that Jesus conquered death. Every human because of sin will leave their sinless natural bodies behind as decomposed corpse. This shows that the natural body is corrupted with stains of sin. Jesus being sinless and perfect human being rose after his death did not leave any track of corrupted natural body behind. He was raised a spiritual body without sin. He is still the same Jesus but not a natural Jesus subject to death.

This post-resurrection body form of Jesus is the same body form that Adam and Eve had before they committed sin. Note that Adam and Eve also ate on food while walking the face of this Earth. After the fall, man’s body become corrupted with sin and therefore, after death the corrupted body returns to Earth while the spiritual body remains.

 

[Tamsulosin]

Are you saying that Jesus is in heaven with his visible spiritual body? Would he be the only one there with a body?God the father has no body, neither does the Holy Spirit.
Would the Virgin Mary, according to what you are saying, would have left a corpse on earth?Did she ascended with her spiritual body.?What happened to her other one?
She did not resurrect when she died.Only Jesus.
I am having a hard time believing all this, for it is getting more complicated than I anticipated.

 

[Tetiaroa]

Are you saying that Jesus is in heaven with his visible spiritual body? Would he be the only one there with a body?God the father has no body, neither does the Holy Spirit.

Is it our purpose to put God under the microscope?? This is is what we call the mystery of our faith. “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again”

How can he die and rise again is just the same as how can he with his body be with the Father while the Father has no body. He was still visible while he was ascending to heaven. The key in understanding this mystery comes in understanding the purpose of the sacraments. Sacrament is the visible manifestation of the invisible. Through Christ the apostles see the invisible God. So Christ is the sacrament of God. We know that the Church is also the body of Christ. In order for the Church to become a sacrament, Christ must return to the Father and become invisible. We now see invisible Christ through the Church, his body. The Church is the sacrament of Christ. We as Christians members of the body of Christ. So every act and every word we say, we have clothed ourselves in Christ. Christ is visible through us in our actions, words, thoughts and lives.

Would the Virgin Mary, according to what you are saying, would have left a corpse on earth?Did she ascended with her spiritual body.?What happened to her other one?
She did not resurrect when she died.Only Jesus.
I am having a hard time believing all this, for it is getting more complicated than I anticipated.

Well there hasn’t been any proof that she died!!!

Don’t you know why we have doctrine of the Assumption? Mary did not ascend to heaven. She is not God! She was assumed into heaven according to Sacred Tradition. She is believed by ALL Catholics (early and modern) that she is Immaculate (without sin).

 

[Tamsulosin]

1- Thank you for taking the time to explain.

2-I am not putting God under the microscope.
This is the forum offered to people to ask questions regarding subjects they do not see with clarity. Is it not?
I have to understand concepts before I believe in them.Even if is a question of faith.

3-I think we celebrate in August the assumption of Mary.I always understood she was(and is) immaculate.
I have seen pictures depicting Mary “ascending” to heaven on that occasion.
I looked in the dictionary,to assume is something like" to presuppose".

 

[NHInsider]

1- Thank you for taking the time to explain.

2-I am not putting God under the microscope.
This is the forum offered to people to ask questions regarding subjects they do not see with clarity. Is it not?
I have to understand concepts before I believe in them.Even if is a question of faith.

3-I think we celebrate in August the assumption of Mary.I always understood she was(and is) immaculate.
I have seen pictures depicting Mary “ascending” to heaven on that occasion.
I looked in the dictionary,to assume is something like" to presuppose".

Mary (and Enoch, and Elijah, and possibly Moses) was taken up into heaven by God - we use the term “assumption” which comes from the latin verb that means “to take up.” (The English “assume” meaning “to suppose” is a much later meaning of the word which apparently came into English from Old French.) So asumptio is an inherently passive verb - God is the agent, Mary is the object. Ascend is an active verb - Jesus went up into Heaven “I ascend to the Father.” In art the two may look exactly the same, but they are very different.

 

[Liraco]

Just to clarify further (hopefully), the difference is that Mary and the others mentioned were “assumed” (meaning it was done TO them), while Jesus ascended of His own power (He did it).

We assume (no pun intended) that Mary was taken up with her body like the others mentioned, meaning she didn’t leave a corpse.

I think the confusion is that you’re thinking of the glorified body as merely “spiritual” and not something material or physical. Hopefully you don’t think of matter as a bad thing, as if the body is to be shed because it’s bad. Our nature is wounded by original sin, and so too is our body “wounded” by it, so it only makes sense that God not only wants our soul restored and healed but also our body.

Remember they both form a WHOLE. We are made by God to be body AND spirit. Angels are pure spirit and we’re not angels.

 

[Cristian_B]

Are you saying that Jesus is in heaven with his visible spiritual body? Would he be the only one there with a body?God the father has no body, neither does the Holy Spirit.
Would the Virgin Mary, according to what you are saying, would have left a corpse on earth?Did she ascended with her spiritual body.?What happened to her other one?
She did not resurrect when she died.Only Jesus.
I am having a hard time believing all this, for it is getting more complicated than I anticipated.

The old body, if it hasn’t fully decomposed, transforms into the new body. It ‘puts on’ immortality. So the old body of Christ transformed into a glorified one. We get a new body, but if the old is still around it transforms into the new.

Does this help?

 

[Tetiaroa]

1 Cor 15:44 says “…It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.”

Jesus after his resurrection was raised a spiritual body. Not natural. If he is still the same he will still be subject to death as required for natural bodies.

Understanding the meaning and context of Jesus rising without leaving his former body behind is important in understanding the resurrection of Christ.

The missing natural body or corpse of Jesus proofs that Jesus conquered death. Every human because of sin will leave their **sinless **natural bodies behind as decomposed corpse. This shows that the natural body is corrupted with stains of sin. Jesus being sinless and perfect human being rose after his death did not leave any track of corrupted natural body behind. He was raised a spiritual body without sin. He is still the same Jesus but not a natural Jesus subject to death.

This post-resurrection body form of Jesus is the same body form that Adam and Eve had before they committed sin. Note that Adam and Eve also ate on food while walking the face of this Earth. After the fall, man’s body become corrupted with sin and therefore, after death the corrupted body returns to Earth while the spiritual body remains.

This is just a correction to what I posted earlier in posting #46 as shown with the underlined sentence in the quoted box above. The mistake is with the word in red “sinless” where it should be “sinful”. The sentence should correctly read as “Every human because of sin will leave their sinful natural bodies behind as decomposed corpse.”

I apologize for the mistake.

God Bless you all.