God’s Diorama

I loved my Easter basket when I was young.
It wasn’t the jelly beans or robin’s eggs or even the chocolate bunnies that I enjoyed.
It was my precious egg.

I can see it now in my mind’s eye.
Small, yellow…the size of my hand.
Rough to the touch, with decorations that mimicked a real decorated egg.

But this egg was special.
This one had a window…a small piece of plastic on one end that I could look into.
Inside was a miniature world…a rabbit burrow…with a family of rabbits.

I used to imagine I could go inside…and live there.
Holding it up to the light allowed me to see clearly.
In the light, all the details were visible.

I have never come across such a diorama, but I would love to find one again.
I never knew what happened to mine.
Lost in the passages of time, I guess.

Can you imagine God’s diorama?
Instead of rabbit burrows, we see a tomb.

Inside the tomb, we see the body of our Lord Jesus.
The body that Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate to release to him.
The body he so carefully took down from the cross, washed, and wrapped in linen.
The body that he placed in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.
The tomb, with the small opening, that required you stoop down to look inside.
The tomb that had a stone which fit into a groove so that it could be rolled into place on the downhill slope. (Luke 23:50-56)

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40)

There was no expectation of resurrection.
The women came to anoint the dead body of Jesus since they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Anyone looking into a diorama of that tomb would have seen death.

But death is only sleep.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26)
Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand. His enemies will be a footstool for His feet.
(Hebrews 1:13)

Can you imagine what you see when you look into God’s diorama on Easter morning?
Can you see the stirring…the awakening?
Can you see the strips of linen in their place, with the burial cloth folded up by itself, separate from the linen?
Can you see the two men with clothes gleaming like lightning?

Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here. He is risen. (Luke 24: 5, 6)

Can you see inside God’s diorama?
Look again…
It is empty.
He is alive.

4 responses to “God’s Diorama”

1. I remember that egg, Gina. It was beautiful. I do love reading about your mother as I remember and miss her, too. She was a very loving woman who was so incredibly proud of her daughter…just like you are of yours. Your writing is beautiful and I have followed you from the first day after you started this blog.

   Reply

   • Barbara,
     To think that my childhood friend would become my sister in law.
     What a gift !!!
     Many memories…our mothers…friends like us.
     All these years…and all these children…11 between us.
     I am so glad that you remember these things along with me.
     You are special to me and very loved.
     Gina

     Reply

2. Hallelujah, what a Savior!!!

   Reply

   • Yes, Janna…
     Jesus’ Resurrection…the cornerstone of our faith.
     Our precious Lord Jesus.

     Reply