In Jesus' day the literalism of religion ruled the day. He was taught, as was every other Jewish child, that God had given Moses ten commandments on the top of Mount Sinai that were written on stone tablets...which is where the common phrase "written in stone" comes from. But left in the "capable" hands of human beings, these ten laws somehow morphed into over 600 rules and regulations that were to be strictly adhered to upon punishment of death, ironically enough, by stoning. The use of a stone or stones is a very accurate metaphor in many cases. For example, as has just been mentioned, Jesus was familiar with (since childhood) the "ministry of death" that was written in stone, so when he was encased in a tomb of stone with a stone rolled in front of the opening, it was not the first time he had been held captive by stone. But the good news of the resurrection is that the stone has now been rolled away, another fitting metaphor for the scripture..."The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Actually, Jesus had developed a habit of "stone rolling." When He said to the crowd of Jewish people, "You have heard of old, but I say to you..." He was rolling the stone (of literalism and the law) away. When He said, "My Father's house should be a house of prayer for ALL nations (not just Jews)" he was rolling the stone away. When the Pharisees accused Him of breaking the law by healing a man on the Sabbath and His answer to them was, "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" - and further, "I am the Lord of the Sabbath" - he was rolling the stone away. When He challenged a group of men with stones in their hands ready to rain down on a woman caught in the act of adultery by saying, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," he was rolling the stone away. So we see that when the actual stone in front of his tomb was rolled away, it was far from the first time in His life!

After the resurrection, when Mary ran into Him in the garden He instructed her not to touch Him. Why? Because the stone had been rolled away and He was no longer trapped by the literalism He had been raised in. She came wanting to touch "Jesus of Nazareth" the man of history, but all that remained now was the Spirit of the resurrection called "The Christ." That gives even another layer of meaning to the verse, "He is no longer where He lay." He had been transformed from the literal flesh and blood man to a life-giving Spirit.

The true meaning of Easter is that all any religion has to offer is a dead end. After you have run through them all, with all their laws, rules and regulations, at some point you will realize, "I Am who I Am" in Spirit. And at that point, you will not need a label or a name for what you are. You can just BE. Yes, the true beauty of the resurrection story is that the same power that raised Christ from the dead and rolled away the stone, delivered the man Jesus from the death of religion, resides in you and me. The stone has indeed been rolled away and you ARE the Spirit of the living God.