Matthew 27:66 - So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

When Joseph of Arimathea claimed Jesus’ body off the Cross, he:

Matthew 27:60 - laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

A “great stone” was set in front. The chief priests and Pharisees then sealed the great stone and set soldiers to guard it…

Matthew 27:64 - lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’

And yet Jesus still escaped from the tomb. Because God is in the jailbreak business.

He broke Peter out of jail:

Acts 12:5-8 - Peter was kept in prison… Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

He broke Joseph out of jail:

Genesis 39:20, 41:1,40 - And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison… After two whole years [after Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams]… Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.’”

God is in the jailbreak business.

When he began his public ministry, Jesus read prophecy from the Old Testament:

Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me… to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

Liberty from sin and its effects both now in this life and over the power of death.

God is in the jailbreak business.

When the doors of the prison swing open, sometimes we walk through. Sometimes we don’t, preferring our captivity because it’s what we know.

But Jesus has a design:

John 8:31-34,36 - So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin… So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

May we follow him with the excellent procession into every bit of freedom from sin!

Psalm 68:18a - You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train

May God bring his jailbreak to us in every way we’re held captive by sin and from the captivity of death itself so we would be truly free!