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Resurrection Man
He was a 36-year-old slave purchased in 1852 for $700 off an auction block in Charleston, South Carolina. His buyer: the Medical College of Georgia. His task: provide the medical school with fresh cadavers.
You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen!
Everyone knew his real name was Grandison Harris, but doctors at the college called him "Resurrection Man." That's because he got real good at robbing the local cemetery and bringing the bodies back to the school for medical research (although illegal, this crime wasn't enforced).
But Resurrection Man did pay for his crime - quite unusually.
He took a break one night after completing a job, parking his loaded wagon in an alley. Two medical students pulled a prank by removing the dead body from the sack and, you guessed it, one of them climbed in. When Mr. Resurrection returned to his wagon, the student groaned, "Grandison . Grandison . I'm cold!" The results were predictable.
About the same as the soldiers, disciples, and women who found an empty tomb on resurrection morning. Confused. Scared witless.
But this shouldn't have been. That's why the angel at Jesus' empty tomb chided the women, "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen!" (Mark 16:6). They should have been looking for Jesus the Almighty Son of God who promised he'd rise on the third day. But they, like Grandison, were looking for a dead man. They were satisfied that in that tomb would be their fulfillment for the day - making a dead Jesus smell better.
The Resurrection Man died in 1911 of heart failure at the age of 95. Three days later, the old grave robber was buried in the same cemetery he had plundered for more than 50 years.
Believers in Jesus Christ's resurrection have also died, and we've been buried into the same tomb of Jesus. The one that is empty. The one where dead people come to life. The one in which sin has been paid for and Satan is crushed.
Looking for fulfillment? Then don't look into that tomb expecting to see a dead Savior or your own dead self. Don't spend your days preparing to make your rotting corpse at least smell a little better. Don't expect to live your life in peace and joy if you're going to pull out of the grave all your guilt and worry that has already been buried. And if Easter means not much more to you than nicer weather and sweets for a few weeks, than ask yourself which Resurrection Man has influenced you more.
The one who takes what doesn't belong to him. Or the One who gives what doesn't belong to you. Trust in the real Resurrection Man, whose resurrection gives joy, peace, forgiveness and heaven to any sinner looking for a new life.
