This blog post is based on a message shared by Pastor Steve Harness at Wilton Baptist Church.

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Welcome to Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. On this Resurrection Sunday, we invite you to step back 2,000 years to a limestone hillside garden in Jerusalem and ask a question that still echoes today: Who will open the door?

The Setting: Golgotha and the Garden

Several years ago, I had the privilege of touring the Holy Land. I visited a location I believe is the true site of the resurrection. Just above a busy modern parking lot sits a hillside called Golgotha—the “Place of the Skull.” Even in photos from the early 1900s, before modern trappings, you can clearly see the features of a face in the rock.

This was a thoroughfare where people would walk by and jeer at criminals on the cross. It was here that Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, was crucified between two thieves. But just a few hundred yards away is the garden of Joseph of Arimathea.

In that garden stands a tomb. At its base is a channel about a foot wide, designed for a massive stone door—at least six feet in diameter—to roll back and forth. This door was once sealed with Roman wax and guarded by soldiers. It is the backdrop for the most important question in history.

The Morning of the Miracle

In Mark 16, we find three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome—walking toward this tomb at sunrise. They were bringing sweet spices to anoint the body of Jesus, a final act of respect.

As they walked, they asked among themselves:

“Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre (tomb)?” (Mark 16:3)

They knew they lacked the strength and the authority to move that several-hundred-pound stone. But when they arrived, they saw the stone was already rolled away. An angel told them the greatest news humanity has ever heard:

“He is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6)

The angel didn’t open the door to let Jesus out; he opened the door so the witnesses could get in.

Three Reactions to the Resurrection

The Bible records that the women fled the tomb with a mix of intense emotions. Mark uses three powerful Greek concepts to describe their state:

1. Trembling (Eko-tromos): A shaking that takes hold of the entire body.
2. Amazement (Ecstasis): Where we get the word “ecstatic.” It refers to a displacement of the mind—a “holy bewilderment.”
3. Fear (Phobia): An overwhelming sense of awe and terror at the supernatural.

Unlike the world today, which often treats death with confusion—like the sad story of radio host Casey Kasem, whose body was moved from country to country amidst family disputes—these women knew exactly where Jesus had been laid. They didn’t go to the wrong spot; they went to the right spot and found it empty.

Why the Door Had to Be Opened: The History of Sin

To understand why the resurrection matters, we have to look at the “Book of Beginnings”—Genesis.

• The First Sin: In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobeyed a clear command. Sin is any thought, word, or action that displeases God. It is “stepping over the line.”
• The First Gospel (Proto-Evangelum): In Genesis 3:15, God promised that the “seed of the woman” would one day crush the serpent’s head. This was the first promise of a Savior.
• The Curse: Because of sin, thorns and thistles entered the world. Isn’t it powerful to realize that when Jesus hung on the cross, he wore a crown of thorns? He was literally wearing the physical manifestation of the curse of sin.

The Three Deaths

Because of the fall, every human faces three types of death:

1. Spiritual Death: Separation from God (which happened to Adam the moment he sinned).
2. Physical Death: The cessation of life.
3. Eternal Death: Eternal separation from God.

Jesus came so that we could have spiritual life now, ensuring that when we face physical death, we inherit eternal life instead of eternal death.

The Prophecy of the Suffering Servant

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah described His death with chilling accuracy in Isaiah 53.

• The Burden: “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). God “rolled up” the sins of the past, present, and future and threw that bundle onto Christ.
• The Burial: “He made his grave… with the rich in his death” (Isaiah 53:9). This was fulfilled when the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea gave his own tomb to Jesus.

The Door of the Heart

Today, the question isn’t about a stone door in Jerusalem. It’s about the door of your heart. Jesus says:

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…” (Revelation 3:20)

I think of the story of an elderly lady who was facing eviction. She was terrified every time there was a knock at the door, thinking it was the sheriff. One day, her pastor knocked for a long time. When she finally opened it, she found he wasn’t there to evict her—he was there with a gift from the church that had paid her debt in full. She said, “I would have been such a fool if I hadn’t opened the door.”

What is the condition of your heart’s door?

• The Cold Heart: Calloused by the hardships of a cursed world.
• The Crowded Heart: Too busy with work, sports, and “stuff” to notice the knocking.
• The Corrupt Heart: Loving sin more than the Savior.

How to Open the Door

Opening the door to Jesus is as simple as believing the Gospel:

1. Recognize the Need: “For all have sinned” (Romans 3:23).
2. Believe the Proof: “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
3. Confess and Receive: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

John 1:12 promises that as many as receive Him, to them He gives the power to become the sons of God.

If you have never opened that door, do it today. Don’t let a crowded or cold heart keep you from the one who rolled away the stone of death to give you eternal life.