“I know of him, but I don’t know him.” You’ve probably said something like that. There’s a difference there isn’t there? Bob Backlund was a state high school wrestling finalist from my hometown of Princeton, MN and he went on to become one of the most successful professional wrestlers of all time. And I didn’t know it until a couple days ago, but he was an All-American wrestler at Waldorf. So I know of him, I know who he is and some information about him, but I don’t know him in that I have had interactions with him.

Simon Greenleaf who lived from 1783 to 1853 was a key figure in the early development of the Harvard Law School. He is considered to have been one of the greatest legal minds of our country. He is well known for his classic work in the field of Law, Treatise on the Law of Evidence. But there is another book that he wrote entitled, The Testimony of the Evangelists, Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice. Using his expertise in evidence, he examined the evidence of Christ’s resurrection given in Holy Scripture. He concluded that “according to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.”

The women went early to the tomb to finish embalming the body of Christ. They loved Jesus, but they like the disciples did not remember the words that Jesus had spoken that He would rise again. They had fully expected Him to be lying lifeless in the tomb, secured in place by the large stone at the mouth of the tomb. They had no idea the wonderful news that they would receive that day!

His family was safely sleeping at home, which gave the watchman solace as he walked the city walls at night. But it was dark and cold. It was mostly quiet. All night long he struggled with the tension between sleepiness from the quiet and anxiousness from the little sounds coming from the darkness. Yet, he has to remain vigil. He was the watchman. He had to keep an eye out for any intruders or enemies. But he longed for the morning when the sun rose, and his work was done.

On Mt. Sinai, God instructed Moses to construct the Tabernacle. Made of wood, linen, and gold and other metals, the Tabernacle would be the place of God’s earthly presence among His people. It would be the place where the people would gather to worship God and offer sacrifices to Him. The tabernacle moved from place to place as God led them through the wilderness, until they crossed the Jordan into Canaan, and there the Tabernacle remained in the town of Shiloh for quite some time. Eventually, the Temple was built in Jerusalem during the time of Solomon as a permanent structure for God’s presence.

It was the day for their redemption! They will be delivered from their bondage of Egypt. A final plague has been announced; a plague that will force Pharaoh to let Israel go. It will be a dreadful one, for God will send the Angel of Death, the Destroyer of the First Born, who will bring death throughout the land. And so as the Israelites are preparing to leave their homes into a wilderness to gain freedom from their enemies all the while while death is taking place all around them, what does God say, “Let’s eat!”