Remember that the tomb where they laid Jesus’ body was a borrowed one. Specifically, it was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, who had obviously come to believe in Jesus. He provided his own tomb, which was available. Have you ever wondered about this tomb? What was the technology involved; we might call it primitive. First, the tomb was cut out of solid rock. And a large stone was rolled into place against the tomb – no doubt to keep the animals out. It thus took a lot of wealth to prepare a tomb like this. Evidently, Joseph was a wealthy man.

To make the tomb even more secure, Pilate in Mat 27:65 orders that the tomb be sealed with his seal, and a squad of soldiers went along to stand watch. This seal would indicate that the tomb was not to be tampered with, under penalty of Roman law.

To my thinking, this makes the Resurrection all the more spectacular. The disciples, fragmented and afraid for their lives, could never attack a Roman guard. And the women knew that they could never roll the stone away to get to the body of Jesus. Only God’s power could freeze the guard, roll away the stone, and resurrect the physical body of Jesus! That is the miracle of Easter. And I marvel at how God must have accomplished that!