Posting Security Guards on the Coast of Florida to ward off the Hurricanes

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the tower Babel. I love that story for a number of reasons, but one of them is for how amusing it is. All the nations gathered together in one speech, all proud and excited, planning to build a great city with a tower stretching into heaven. It’s huge, it’s gigantic, it’s worldwide, it’s corporate, it’s got fancy letter head, and all the networks are covering this project. The suits and ties are all there, along with the PhDs and the politicians and the rock stars and scientists. All the talk shows are talking, all the best sellers are musing on this city, this tower, this amazing project. And then the line comes, in subtle Mosaic sarcasm: “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.” And the Lord squinted down at the little red spot on the side walk of the universe, hmm…. He thought, what’s that little pile of ants milling so excitedly about? And the Lord came down to see what all the fuss was about. And while the Tower of Babel project was off to a good start, the text continues to emphasize the fact that God had to go down and see it, go down and scatter them. The Lord of the Universe goes down and gently confuses all the chatter, scatters them, and sends them off in confusion, cute little, pesky people.

And I get the same feeling when I read that they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. O really? You sealed the tomb and set a guard, did you? How cute. Of course the pretense is that the disciples might come and steal the body, but really, all we’ve seen the disciples do in these last few chapters is run and deny all association with Christ. I hardly think they were real threats. But this sealing, this guarding is about like putting a band-aid on the crack of an enormous hydro-electric dam. This is like posting a few security guards on the coast of Florida to ward off the hurricanes. Yeah, you guys just stand there. Good luck. Just how would you seal the tomb of the Lord of the Universe? Just how would you keep Him in there? Of course they couldn’t, of course they didn’t. And here we are celebrating that fact. And we are still little people, small, insignificant, but in the great grace and mercy of God, He has invited us to sit with Him, to eat with Him, and He loves His people. Your God loves you, and the same God who could not be held down by soldiers and ropes, draws you up by His grace to fellowship with Him.