Henriette Juliane Caroline von Rüling, the wife of the Hanoverian state secretary Georg Ernst von Rüling and daughter of Georg Wilhelm von Willich, Vice President of the Higher Appeals Court

The Open Grave

Henriette Juliane Caroline von Rüling, the wife of the Hanoverian state
secretary Georg Ernst von Rüling and daughter of Georg Wilhelm von Willich,
Vice President of the Higher Appeals Court, died in 1782 at the age of 26.
Her family had a tomb constructed in the Garden Cemetery in Hanover,
Germany. It was built in the form of steps with massive stones. In
addition to the inscriptions about the deceased, these words were engraved
in the lower slab of the tomb: ""This tomb bought for eternity may never be
opened."

At some time after the tomb was completed, a birch seed fell into a crevice
and sprouted. The seedling kept growing until it became a tree. The tree
caused the massive stones of the tomb to be raised and split open. Despite
the claim of the engraved inscription was never to be opened, due to the
damage of the growing birch tree, the grave became known as "the Open Grave"
or "Burst Grave." *

This phenomenon illustrates what will happen when Jesus returns to this
earth. Jesus foretold what would happen to graves when He returns: "Do not
marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the
resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
condemnation" (John 5:28-29). Graves – even the massive tombs of stone and
steel – will be opened and the dead shall be raised to meet the Lord in
judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

The guarantee of the general resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus from
the dead. Because the stone was rolled away and Jesus' tomb was found
empty, all graves will be opened when Jesus returns from heaven to judge the
world. "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the
firstfruits [the first of more to come] of those who have fallen asleep
[i.e. died]" (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Skeptics and unbelievers have sought to "explain away" the resurrection of
Jesus to no avail. The tomb was empty; Jesus was raised from the dead and
seen by many credible witness (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).

What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you and me?

It is the key to experiencing new life now. The death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus are the basis of the Good News, the Gospel. The
Apostle Paul wrote: "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also
received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and
that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Because Jesus died for our sins and
rose from the grave, He paid the price for our redemption from sin
(Ephesians 1:7). When we accept His offer of salvation from sin by placing
our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), dying to the practice of sin in
repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before others (Romans 10:9-10),
and are baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38), we are raised from the watery
grave of baptism to a new life (Romans 6:3-4). Our sins are washed away by
His blood, His Spirit is given to us, and we are added to His family, the
church (Acts 2:38, 41). We are made new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians
5:17).

The resurrection of Jesus is also the key to eternal life. "For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord" (Romans 6:23). Because of His own resurrection and the promises that
Jesus made, when Jesus comes again the dead in Christ will rise to meet the
Lord "and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

The empty tomb of Jesus is the ultimate "grave buster." Won't YOU accept
His offer of new and eternal life through your trusting obedience?

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from "Open Grave, Hanover" in Wikipedia.com.