Read: Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
As we have walked through the book of Luke, I have been engrossed in putting myself in the feet of the women that we have encountered. Within the book of Luke, Jesus interacts with so many different women. Even as we come to the end of Jesus’s life, Luke still draws attention to the women that walked and stayed with Jesus until the very end. These women were faithful followers of Jesus who accompanied him from the cross to the tomb.
I cannot imagine the emotional toll these days had upon these followers of Jesus: to see Jesus, whom they loved and cared for, die in such a horrific and vulgar way; to see the man they believed to be the Word of God put in such a lowly, criminal place; to see the sky turn black; to feel the earth shake; to hear Jesus cry out in agony and breathe his last breath. What heartache must have gripped them.What turmoil of the soul must have stirred within them. Yet, they stayed with Jesus. Even in his death they did not leave him. They did not walk away. They did not abandon him. They did not consider their work with Jesus done.
The morning after the Sabbath, they arrived at the tomb of Jesus expecting to find their friend and teacher dead. They came prepared to tend to the dead body of the one they loved. In fact they had prepared these items two days ago. They sat in their house with these spices, waiting and waiting for the time when they could go and show proper honor and respect to this man they dearly loved. I wonder if they grieved together; if they gathered at each other’s houses to comfort one another.
They may not have fully understood what they were walking into on that Sunday morning. They obviously thought they would be preparing Jesus’s body to remain in the tomb. But when they arrive, the tomb is empty. I feel like this was one of those moments when you feel like you can’t take another thing going wrong. But it seems they barely had time to process this first shock when they were hit by another shock as two men, who (according to the description) are clearly not normal men, stood before them.
And they spoke:
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
These women had heard these words before, but the words had a new meaning this time. I love that the women “remembered his words.” When we are grieving, how often do we forget the truth? Our grief can overpower our thoughts and minds, but as these ladies stood there with all sorts of emotions stirring within them, these two men spoke the truth. They reminded them of the words of Jesus, and the women remembered.
It was at this moment that those words were fully understood. I can almost see their faces when they finally grasp what Jesus had been teaching. They get it. They know. They understand, and it all leads to one truth-Jesus is risen! Death has not won. He has conquered the grave. Did they just stand there with gaping mouths? Did one of them squeal? (I mean these are women, and I assume they are pretty excited.) Maybe one started crying. Was there one bouncing in place? Were there embraces of joy? Imagine that moment as the first sisterhood of believers of the risen Christ was created. What a moment that truly had to be!
With this exciting news, they ran to tell the other disciples, who didn’t believe them (but let’s not dwell on that silliness). The truth they had just received was so overwhelming that they couldn’t keep it to themselves. And they knew the disciples and the others were grieving just as they had been, and they knew they had real hope for them. Hope that would change their lives forever.
I think about how the grief that was heavy in their hearts that morning changed to rejoicing. They brought in worry and dread and left with hope and exuberance. I hope that is how we exit our church doors this Sunday-with hope and exuberance. Christ has risen; death lost its power; hell lost its hold; sin lost its shame; enemies have become guests at the feasts; orphans have become children; dead have become alive; darkness has been scattered by light; divisions have become fellowships. This is all accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! This is the hope and truth that we take with us on Easter Sunday. So I hope we join with these ladies and tell others and spread the word even if they don’t believe us. May the joy of the resurrection bring you hope today.
