“It was all for nothing,” the devil’s evil laugh echo in the dark chamber. He spoke to the body that had been laid to rest three days prior.
“Where are your disciples now?” The evil one continued. “Didn’t they say they would follow you even to death? No, they all abandoned you, disowned you, and one even betrayed you. It only took thirty pieces of silver for him to hand you over. That’s all your life was worth, thirty pieces of silver. Now your followers have all disappeared, cowering in fear. I must admit I’m proud of myself. It only took five days. That’s right, the crowds were singing your praises when you entered the city, but five days later I had them shouting at the top of their lungs ‘crucify him! Crucify him!’
“Now look at you.” The devil paced back and forth as he gloated over the lifeless body. “They flogged you, spit on you, and nailed you to a cross. The Romans do a good job crucifying their enemies. I’m glad I came up with the idea of crucifixion. I enjoyed watching every time one of your pitiful creatures hung on a cross. But nothing pleased me more than you racked in pain and gasping for breath. Even that Father of yours turned his back on you. My only regret is that I couldn’t have made you suffer even more. You should have bowed down to me that day in the desert. I would have given you all the kingdoms of the world. Instead, you chose death and burial in a tomb that you didn’t even own. It was all for nothing. You lost, and I won!”
“Wait. What was that? Was it a breath?” The evil serpent froze.
Under the burial linen the faint sound of breathing broke the silence of the tomb. The cloth rose slightly and then dropped with the heaving of his chest.
“No! Stay dead! Stay dead and rot in this tomb forever. I rule this world. If you rise from the dead, then death itself is meaningless. I will be ruined!”
Then an arm that, seconds ago, had been cold and lifeless reached up. A nail-pierced hand gripped the burial cloth and pulled it back, reveling eyes opened and alert. The devil backed away and shuddered as the body came to life.
The deep grinding of stone against stone filled the tomb. The darkness inside could not hold back the early morning light as the stone rolled away. The Resurrected One stood up and walked out, leaving his burial cloth, and death itself behind.
