The Story
April 10, 2023
Read the story.
We know it, of course. We have heard it many times. We may have heard it only yesterday. But on Day Two of Easter, read it again. In your own time. In your own way. Don’t rush. Let your imagination be engaged. What questions are provoked? What surprises you? What do you notice that you didn’t see before? Which person in this story do you relate to most closely? What image sparks your curiosity?
Carry this tale of wonder with you through the day.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for this sacred story. Send your Spirit to guide me in these Easter days that I may experience wonder, new life, new hope, and new joy. Alleluia! Amen.
Tomorrow we will begin the slow read of this tale. Each day, we’ll explore a phrase, a word, a person from the text. With wonder and courage, open hearts and curious minds, and the always present Holy Spirit, we will encounter the living Christ and share the Risen Life.
But at the first signs of dawn on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb, taking with them the aromatic spices they had prepared. They discovered that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on going inside, the body of the Lord Jesus was not to be found. While they were still puzzling over this, two men suddenly stood at their elbow, dressed in dazzling light. The women were terribly frightened, and turned their eyes away and looked at the ground. But the two men spoke to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here: he has risen! Remember what he said to you, while he was still in Galilee—that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and must be crucified, and must rise again on the third day.”
(Luke 24:1-12) JB Phillips Translation of the New Testament, 1960
Then they did remember what he had said, and they turned their backs on the tomb and went and told all this to the eleven and the others who were with them. It was Mary of Magdala, Joanna, the mother of James, and their companions who made this report to the apostles. But it struck them as sheer imagination, and they did not believe the women. Only Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down and saw the linen clothes lying there all by themselves, and he went home wondering at what had happened.
Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Helen Spence
What strikes me most every year is that the women were not believed. It’s not like the men didn’t know these ladies – they had been traveling with and taking care of them for quite some time. And, in hearing the Gospel reading from John yesterday, I was, once again, struck by the fact that they were all – men and women alike – so stunned that they seemingly had already either forgotten what Jesus had told them before his death, or simply DID NOT GET IT. Grief does that, in my experience.
Verdery Kassebaum
I am reminded of a lovely song/hymn I read/heard/sang years ago, and it’s actually in the Hymnal 1982, number 673!
“The first one ever, oh, ever to know of the birth of Jesus, was the Maid Mary, was Mary the Maid of Galilee, and blessed is she, is she who believes.
The first one ever, oh, ever to know of Messiah, Jesus, when he said “I am he,” was the Samaritan soman who drew from the well, and blessed is she, is she who perceives. Oh, blessed is she who perceives the Lord, oh, blessed is she who perceives. ‘Twas the Samaritan woman who drew from the well, and blessed is she, is she who perceives.
I highly recommend it for Eastertide and Mother’s Day, not to mention next year’s Women’s Month.
The firs ones ever, oh, ever to know of the rising of Jesus, his glory to be, were Mary, Joanna, and Magdalene, and blessed are they, are they who see. Oh, blessed are they who see the Lord, oh, blessed are they who see. They were Mary, Joanna, and Magdalene, and blessed are they, are they who see.
Richard Kurzmann
If I had been someone who was with the eleven I don’t know if I would have just doubted the women, thinking maybe they went to the wrong tomb; or if I would have been more like Peter and gone to take a look for myself and then wonder what is going on here. I don’t know how I would have expected to learn that He had Risen indeed.
Melissa
Thanks to Verdery Kassebaum for pointing out H673. That is a wonderful song!! 🙂