When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. (Matthew 28:12-15 NIV)
When people can’t explain or embrace miracles, they excuse them. That’s exactly what the religious leaders did when Jesus rose from the dead. They paid the soldiers, who were guarding the tomb and had witnessed the miracle, a large sum of money, telling them to say that the disciples came at night and stole the body of Jesus. The problem with excusing this particular miracle was that 1) the disciples had hidden out of fear of what could happen to them as Jesus’ followers and 2) they wouldn’t have been able to roll the large and heavy stone away from the tomb. The disciples were certainly not brave or strong enough for such a task.
Miracles are the things we can’t explain, but which make us realize that it was God all along. I often say that miracles are not meant to be explained, they’re meant to be experienced. I’ll also add, they’re meant to be embraced. This Easter, embrace the truth of Christ’s resurrection instead of trying to explain it because His resurrection power lives in every person who believes.
Rising with the Son 