The Empty Tomb
This painting is the third in an Easter series of 3 that I called ‘Death is not the end’. This series takes three different symbols of Jesus’ death as black silhouettes and contrasts them with backgrounds full of colour, movement and life. My aim is to express something of the truth of Easter - that death isn’t the end, that resurrection and life follows it.
The tomb was found empty three days after Jesus had died. This is the moment of wonder and celebration in the Easter story. Jesus had risen from the dead. Death is not the end! He appeared to his disciples and many, many more people over the next 40 days. He had demonstrated his great love for us, forgiven our sins and now in rising to life again pointed towards our resurrection at the end of time.
As part of completing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, I spent time imagining the resurrection. Here are two entries from my prayer journal which give a glimpse of how I imagined it.
John 20v1-10 “I imagine being up early, waiting for the tiniest bit of light so I could see my way to the tomb. My basket is ready with all I need to embalm Jesus’ body, and I wait for dawn to break. I get to the tomb, but see that the stone has been rolled away. I drop my basket and noticing the body has gone I am filled with confusion and panic. I run back and see John and Peter who are just up. They run to the tomb, and I lag behind a bit, already out of breath! We are scared once again - what is happening? John enters the tomb, trying to understand, and the Spirit reminds him of Jesus’ words. Has he really risen from the dead? Peter joins him and they are shocked at the realisation that Jesus could be alive! Meanwhile, I’m sat in the garden, crying. Peter and John tell me his is risen, to go and look for myself. They head back to tell the others, meanwhile a kindle of hope lights in my heart. Could it really be true?”
John 20v11-18 “I return to the panic and confusion of seeing the empty tomb. I am in tears, my basket abandoned somewhere. Peter and John have left, and after some time I begin to gather myself and find the courage to once again peer inside the tomb. The tomb is tiny and is practically filled with the two angels I see there. They ask me why I am crying and I explain I don’t know where Jesus’ body is. For some reason I am not shocked to see two angels, perhaps I am unshockable now, after everything. I sense someone standing behind me, and I ask him if he has taken the body, and that I’m happy to go and bring it back. I just want the body back. I hear Jesus say my name. I turn around, and Jesus takes a step back. He is glowing, literally. It is Jesus. I know in my heart it is Jesus. I could hear his voice. He tells me to not cling to him - which is all I long to do. I drop to the floor instead. Tears fall as I try to take in what I see before me - Jesus, the man I knew, the man I saw die only days ago, alive in front of me, shining with the glory of God. He tells me to tell the others, so off I run, leaving my basket behind, forgotten, no longer needed.”