Watching the tomb...

 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
(Matthew 27:61-66 ESV)
Today is the day of watching... watching the tomb of Jesus.  Some, like the women, are watching in hopeful anticipation.  Maybe they really did not expect Him to rise again, but they did anticipate having something more to do with Jesus.  The leaders were watching for another reason. They wanted NOTHING MORE to do with Jesus.  Rather than watching the tomb in hope, they were watching with every negative emotion possible: fear, hate, and whether they chose to admit it or not, guilt.  Take time today to think about the tomb on that day, what has happened to this point, what is happening even now as Jesus fights against death and the sin that brings it, and what our response should be tomorrow when we celebrate its emptiness.