Howard Carter and a few workmen made their way down an ancient 30-foot passageway cut into the rock in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. For over 3,000 years, no human had stepped down that corridor. At the end, Carter began cutting a hole in the door until he peered inside and saw “wonderful things.”
Breaking into the chamber, Carter was astonished to be standing among elaborate vases, couches, statues, jewelry, chariots, and a beautiful ostrich feather fan that stood in perfect condition. The scent of perfume still hung in the air. But then in another chamber came the big surprise, a solid gold coffin containing the mummified remains of King Tutankhamen, a solid gold mask covered the face, and a wreath of flowers on top of it. No one had ever seen a spectacularly rich tomb of an Egyptian king that had gone undiscovered and undisturbed by robbers. And it was all sealed up in the general era of the great Exodus of the Israelites-one of the greatest moments of salvation the world had ever seen.
Tombs are sometimes places of epiphany, but none more so than the one used for Jesus. His tomb was sealed in Jerusalem about 1400 years after young King Tut’s. His was the burial of one judged a criminal, and mocked as a make-believe king. Those who loved Jesus dignified his burial with love and care. His tomb, however, did not remain undisturbed. It was cracked open within days of the burial, but not by human hands. And when first a few women, then a few men entered, they found… absolutely nothing. Grave cloths lay empty and useless. There were no statues or vases or piles of jewelry. No gold. No regal accessories. This tomb was not fit for a king, and it certainly was not fit for the King of Kings, who had no intention of lingering under the false pretense of perfumes.
And yet in that emptiness were riches none of us can comprehend even now. The power of God–by which Jesus came to life in the tomb, left the tomb, and left the earth in a confident rebuke of all of our greatest enemies, including death–has been unleashed in the world.
“It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life” (1 Peter 1:18).
Excerpt from Putting the Pieces Back Together: How Real Life and Real Faith Connect. Complimentary DVD available now.
I say Hallelujah and Amen!!! The tomb is empty which means my Jesus is alive, resurrected to life by the same Holy Spirit who lives in me. Oh the riches of an empty tomb, beyond all the riches this world could ever offer. There is nothing greater. Thank you Lord!!!
This is really true to the bone. I think it is time that we believers started to take this message by the Apostle Peter serious. Collosias 3 verse 2 asks us to forget about earthly things but focus on the way we are all facing – heavenwards.
The Lord Jesus Christ told us in Luke before he ascended to heaven that He leaves us with his Peace and not with the way the earth would normally give you – gold, silver and others.
I am deeply touched by these words coming from 1 Peter 1 verse 18.
May the good loving Almighty God always give me the strength to accept my condition, whatever the siatuation. Paul tells us in Phillipians 4 verse 9 that He knows, through God, how to have plenty and how to have nothing and that in the same chapter, but verse 13 that he can do everything he wants through the Lord Jesus Christ who always strenghtens him.
Amen! I am overwhelmed by this message.
I used this example of the riches of this tomb to demonstrate what Moses left when he rejected Egypt. I probably had heard this illustration used before, I don’t know I don’t remember.
It is a good guess that these riches were put in this tomb out of a broken heart. Those that put these riches in this tomb wanted to make sure that this son would have them in the life to come. We can see in retrospect how unwise this was. It seems so silly to us now that these people would put such a great amount of wealth into a tomb. But when you look at this from their point of view this body was the only thing that they had to cling to. This was the only thing left to show their affection for. I think you could say that they hung their hopes on a embalmed body using these things Thank God that we as followers of Jesus have more than that because of the empty tomb of Jesus. This is a good contrast