Look at Paul, he was thrown into prison how many times? Noah was laughed out of town. Jonah was on the wrong side of a fishing story. And Thomas looked into the eyes of the Saviour and still had some doubts.
How many know the name of Adoniram Judson? It's not a name that's on our tongues very often, or probably not at all. Adoniram Judson was a missionary to Burma in the late 1700's to mid 1800's. He went there to do the work of the Lord, to convert souls, to lead them to a Saviour, to show them eternal life. I'm sure he went into the work with the same mindset that most of us do, "this will be great!" However, it took Judson four years to just learn the language. It took him twelve years to see his first convert, he was imprisoned, his wife passed away along with one of his children. I'm sure many times he wondered if it was worth it, but, by the time he died, he had translated the scripture into Burmese, established 100 churches and seen over 8,000 souls saved.
Now, let's travel back a couple of thousand years. Jesus, who made the cripple walk was now falling and staggering up the hill to Golgotha. Jesus, who said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" was now carrying the burden of the wooden beams of his death bed and the sin of the whole world on his back. The men and women who were given new life just saw their Hope give up his.
We can only imagine the upheaval of emotions surrounding this day, but a few days later, when the chaos had turned to shock, when the crowds had dissipated and real life began to set in, there was work to do. It was time to go to the grave to prepare the body, to anoint the body with spices. Not many volunteered for this job, it wasn't a pleasant thing to do, but someone had to do it. You didn't see Peter, the one who jumped out of the boat to walk on water, volunteering. Thomas, who still wasn't sure who the Son of Man was, now couldn't believe it was all over. James, his brother didn't jump up, nor did John, Jesus' most beloved friend. I don't know, maybe it was one of those "it's a woman's job" things, but the fact was, it was an unpleasant task that had to be done, so Mary and Mary Magdalene gathered the necessary items and headed down the road toward the place where Jesus' body lay.
Jesus' body was put in the tomb that had been purchased by Joseph of Arimathea. The burial places were usually hewn into stone and the entrance was covered by a large circular stone door that was placed in a groove that had been chipped out of the stone in front of the opening. This circular stone could then be moved away from the opening along this groove when needed and was usually held in place by smaller stones.
Now, we've all heard this story hundreds of times, and though no one really ever said it, it was kind of assumed the stone was rolled back so that Jesus could get out of the tomb. It's funny how things like this just enter one ear and fly out the other one without connecting to the brain in between. When we stop...think....and ponder, we absolutely know that Jesus didn't need that stone moved, because, you see, when the women arrived at the tomb, the angel rolled the stone away and Jesus was already gone. So, what was the point?
The women were on their way to do a job and you know their hearts were just not in it. They were dreading what lay ahead, they were doing something that no one else would do. They probably wished they could be anywhere doing anything else than what they had volunteered to do, but there they were, walking down a dirty road, scuffing up dust clouds with their feet, mostly walking in silence and hushed tones, until they came upon the unexpected, the unexplained, the undeserved. The stone was rolled back so they could see. Just like in everything that was done from the first cry of that tiny baby in the animals' stall, till the last cry of "It is finished!" it was all done for you, for me, for the disciples, for Mary and Mary Magdalene, and for the generations until the end of time. Every single word, every single action was for you. Even the very thoughts of God Almighty are for you. Psalms 139:17 says, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!"
So many times we walk along scuffing our feet, going about the humdrum tasks that we think no one notices. But there's always One that notices. There's One that is keeping a record. There's One that smiles down on us with unexpected, unexplained, undeserved blessings.
PSALMS 139
O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!" 18 if I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
