WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
APRIL 20, 2025
TOPIC: WHY DID THE ANGEL ROLL AWAY THE STONE?
BY T. O. BANSO
“Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men” (Matthew 28:1-4 American Standard Version).
Matthew 27:65 says Pilate said to the chief priests and Pharisees, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (New King James Version). This was his response to their request to secure Jesus’ tomb until the third day. They wanted to forestall a situation where Jesus’ disciples would come by night and steal His body away and say to the people that He had risen from the dead! They claimed that the last deception would be worse than the first. What they called the first deception was probably Jesus’ alleged pretence to be the Messiah, a truth they rejected.
The point is that nobody had any plan to steal the body of Jesus. His disciples were actually in hiding. Pilate, who had reluctantly handed over Jesus to the Jewish leaders to be crucified, granted the request of the chief priests and Pharisees. They went and made the tomb secure; they sealed the stone and set the guard to keep watch (Matthew 27:66).
What does it mean to seal the stone? According to Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, “The sealing was probably effected by drawing one or more ropes across the stone and fastening either end to the rock with wax or cement of some kind.” Similarly, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says, “The sepulchre was made sure by affixing the large stone to the entrance in such a way that it could not be removed without detection. It was sealed. In what way this was done cannot now be certainly told.”
In the Old Testament, the word sealed is used in Daniel 6:17. “Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed” (Daniel 6:17 New King James Version).
The stone at the door of the tomb of Jesus was sealed to secure the tomb. Nobody could remove the stone without breaking the seal. Only the person who sealed it could authorise the breaking of the seal. It would be a crime for anyone to remove the seal without authorisation. This is like when a regulatory authority or an appropriate authority seals up a property, putting its seal, stamp, or notice to that effect, and an unauthorised person goes there to remove the seal and open the place. This would be a crime.
The chief priests and Pharisees sealed the stone or tomb, thus preventing anyone from gaining access until the seal was officially broken. Unless the seal was broken, the stone could not be rolled away from anyone to enter the tomb.
On the third day after Jesus’ burial, He rose from the dead. Matthew 28:1-4 says, “Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men” (Matthew 28:1-4 American Standard Version). Note the phrase “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it.”
Why did the angel roll away the stone and sit on it? Many people often think that the angel rolled away the stone so that Jesus could come out of the tomb. This is incorrect. The stone that was rolled away was not a barrier to Jesus coming out of the grave. Therefore, the angel didn’t roll away the stone for Jesus.
The Bible says the angel of the Lord rolled away the stone and sat on it. It was as if the angel was waiting for anyone who would challenge him because he didn’t receive anybody’s permission to roll away the stone! The seal must have been broken in the process. If anyone was in doubt about the person who broke the seal, he would meet the angel sitting on the stone!
The resurrection of Jesus demonstrated the indisputable, absolute power of God over the religious leaders in Israel, their collaborators in the crucifixion of Jesus, and the guards posted to secure the tomb. The chief priests had to bribe the soldiers to lie that Jesus’ disciples came at night and stole Him away while they slept (Matthew 28:4, 11-15). That was a ridiculous lie.
The sealed stone was a barrier to Mary Magdalene and the other women from entering the tomb, and without entering the tomb, they wouldn’t be able to anoint His body, which was their original mission on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. They were even already worrying about who would help them roll away the stone (Mark 16:3). But when they got to the tomb, the stone had been rolled away.
The angel rolled away the stone to show that Jesus had risen from the dead, and the tomb was empty. The stone was rolled away so that it could be obvious that Jesus had risen, and the tomb was empty. If the stone had not been rolled away, these women would not have been able to gain entry to the tomb to discover that the body of Jesus was ‘missing’, but, indeed, He had been raised from the dead.
Furthermore, without the seal being broken and the stone removed, Peter and the other disciples wouldn’t have been able to enter the tomb, especially with the presence of the guards posted there to secure the place. Therefore, they wouldn’t have been aware that Jesus had risen before He began to appear to them (John 20:1-18; Matthew 28:1, 5-8).
What announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the great earthquake and the angel’s removal of the sealed stone and the empty tomb! I believe that if Jesus had been resurrected quietly with the sealed stone or tomb intact and, thereafter, showed Himself to His disciples, the propaganda that He didn’t resurrect would have been worse.
The removal of the stone from the door of the tomb without human participation tells us that there is no barrier that God can’t remove; there’s no embargo that God can’t lift; there’s nothing that the enemy has done that God can’t undo; there’s no human finality that God can’t overturn. Proverbs 21:30 says, “No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the Lord” (New Living Translation). Jesus said in the latter part of Matthew 19:26 that with God, all things are possible.
Any stone that the enemy has rolled against your life, marriage, health, business, finances, career, destiny, etc., is rolled away now in Jesus. The seal of the devil is broken in Jesus’ name. The power of resurrection shall break every evil seal on every department of your life and cause life to replace death in Jesus’ name.
The power that raised Jesus from the dead shall give you life. You shall live; your family shall live; your ministry shall live; your destiny shall live, your business shall live, every good thing in your life shall live and not die.
Jesus is risen! Hallelujah! The propaganda of the chief priests and the elders to discredit the truth about His resurrection by bribing the guards to lie that His disciples came at night and stole Him away while they slept, failed woefully (Matthew 28:11-14). For forty days after His crucifixion, Jesus appeared to the apostles from time to time and, by many infallible proofs, presented Himself to them that He was alive and talked to them about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
Jesus is alive forevermore!
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There, they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me, and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Every stone rolled by the enemy against my life is rolled away, and the seal is broken in Jesus’ name. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
BE OUR FINANCIAL PARTNER
Account Name: Cedar Ministry International
Bank: United Bank for Africa
Account Number: 1027304911 (Naira); 3004481420 (USD)
