Resurrection Morning

It was still dark-- a darkness that seemed to be never ending. Only a few days before, these brave women who had followed Jesus from Galilee had stood near the cross watching in anguish and dismay as their beloved friend hung, apparently helpless against the powers of both Rome and the Jewish religious leaders. The sky had darkened as they watched. And then, a sword was thrust in his side and he was pronounced dead. The impossible had happened. With him, their hope for a different future died. All that was left for them to do, if possible, was to anoint that beloved body with the spices and perfumes that would keep him as... no, they couldn't bear to even think about that.

They had watched as an important man claimed his body and wrapped it in a linen cloth. They had followed him to the tomb, and had watched numbly as two caring men carried his body in. They had seen a huge stone being rolled across the entrance to the tomb. Then they had hurried home to prepare the spices.

The darkest day had ended. The Sabbath was beginning. This was always a day of rest, but how could they really rest as despair grabbed their minds and hopes, as grief overwhelmed them.

Have you ever been in that place when the darkness descends and you watch your hopes and dreams collapse? When, in the days that follow, you can only wait ---wait for news, wait for the possibility of something changing to bring back a level of hope? When heaven seems closed to your cries for help? Maybe you're in such a place right now. Can you sit in the darkness and open yourself to the presence of God? Can you know your God suffered such anguish himself--- that he knows darkness and that sense of being forsaken...

Dawn was just about to break. Through the dark streets, several figures can be seen moving quickly, laden down with supplies. As the light appears, we see they are women-- in fact we can recognize them. These are the women who had supported Jesus through the years of his ministry. They had followed him from Galilee-- their friend, their master, the one they'd come to believe in as he shared his life and ministry with them. One of them is Mary Magdalene. The others we’re less familiar with--another Mary, mother of the younger James and Joses, possibly Salome, maybe Joanna, maybe other women. They are coming to do what seems to them the last act of love for their beloved friend—to anoint his body. As they near the place, their feet falter. They remember the huge stone they had seen rolled across the entrance to the tomb. Who, they wonder, would

move the stone for them?

Then in wonder they feel the ground move under their feet and see that the stone had rolled away. And then what?

Slowly, with trepidation, they enter the tomb, looking for his body. But no body—only-- an angel? They draw back afraid. What was going on?

It is interesting how every time an angel appears in Scripture, the reaction is fear, and the first words the angel says are “Don’t be afraid!” Don’t you love how God begins by addressing how we are feeling--inviting us to recognize his presence means freedom from fear? But our usual reaction to something beyond our natural senses seems to be fear.

So, it was for these women. Had their grief led to this? Was this really happening? Were they hallucinating? How could this be?

The angel tells them he knew they were looking for Jesus “who was crucified”, and that he was not there, that he had risen from the dead, just as he had said he would.

For many of us, this story is so familiar that we fail to see how it would have appeared to them. Had these women even known of Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection? Sit for a moment in their wonder. The angel instructs them to go tell his disciples that he has risen. Mark reports that that they were bewildered, and said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. Matthew tells us they hurried away, afraid yet filled with joy! Luke reports that the women told the disciples who didn’t believe them. John says that Mary Magdalene went running to tell “Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved,” and that Peter and John ran to the tomb, saw that it was empty with only strips of cloth remaining; that they saw, they believed, but they still didn’t understand.

Mary Magdalene, however, had followed them back. She stood outside the tomb weeping. Her heart was broken. Her grief was overwhelming. Now even the last act that she had wanted to perform for her beloved master had been taken from her; even his body was gone.

Her mind was so wrapped with grief she couldn't even take in the words the angels were saying to her. She just needed to see his beloved face one more time. As she stood, she became aware that someone was beside her. Looking up, she saw a man and thinking he was a gardener, she asked him if he'd taken the body away and could he tell her where he had put it.

Jesus spoke just one word: ”Mary”

The time stood still for her at that moment. Did her life flash before her-- the tortured, confused woman she had been before she met Jesus and he cast the seven demons from her; all the miracles she had observed; all his teaching about the Kingdom of God and the parables she'd heard; the day she watched him on the cross and longed for a miracle but didn't come-- and here he is, her personal miracle!

 Her eyes flew to his face. His eyes met hers, his eyes full of compassion and loving kindness and maybe even a twinkle!

I wonder how the last few weeks have been for you. Maybe you chose to observe lent in some way. Maybe you've followed our posts here as we traveled with different people on the road to Jerusalem and to the cross with Jesus. Maybe you paused on Good Friday to contemplate Jesus on the cross-- the words he spoke and his final cry “it is finished”! Maybe the weekend passed quietly with your usual activities, and Easter Sunday too was busy with special dinners and egg hunts.

Jesus has risen! What does that mean for you as Monday morning opens a new week? What would it mean for you to sit quietly and gaze at your risen Savior and hear him say your name and gaze back at you with eyes full of compassion and love? What is his invitation to you today?

He longs to say your name. He wants you to stop crying out for what you think you need; he wants you to stop and hear your name and gaze at him and allow his love and his compassion, his eyes of kindness to meet yours. Is there a voice asking you a question? Like Mary, do you wonder whose voice it is? You are not recognizing him, and then he speaks your name. There's something that God has for you, but at this moment in time you have no idea what it is. Is there something you're crying out for, and he is waiting longing to show you something different?

My dog climbs on the chair beside me-- he's not exactly a lap dog-- he's a golden retriever but somehow there is room for both of us on the chair! He lies across me. We sit quietly. I lay my cheek on his head, and the tail wags. I marvel at what touch means to this dog; how he needs to be close, and I wonder how we can have that touch with God. How can we sit with God and sense in some way His touch?

I invite you to sit quietly and invite God’s presence. Remember he is both “out there” and within your heart. Start taking deep, slow breaths. As you breathe in, say these words in your heart, “Breathe in love” and as you breathe out, “Breathe out fear”. “Breathe in love”; “breathe out disappointment” or whatever emotions you are feeling. In and out. In and out. In and out. Allow his love to fill your being. On the cross, Jesus carried your sins but also your sorrows! He is the great burden-bearer. Allow him to bear your burdens today.