For Luke, all of Jesus’ resurrection appearances take place in and around Jerusalem, which was the culminating point of Jesus’ ministry. From here the gospel message will spread in all directions to every nation and people.
For the disciples, the empty tomb was not a “proof” that Jesus had risen from the dead. Rather, it presented the disciples with perplexing information that led in many directions and demanded an interpretation of its meaning. Only when some divine help was provided (here by the angelic messenger and later by the risen Jesus who appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem and on the way to Emmaus) did the true meaning emerge.
Like us, the women are told that in order to discover the meaning of his resurrection they must remember everything that Jesus said and did. Only by seeing this event in continuity with his birth, life, ministry and death can they recognize that the resurrection is the culmination of all that Jesus was trying to accomplish.
Gospel: Luke 24:1-10
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women came to the tomb,
taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.
The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb,
they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene,
Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.
Reflection and Response
If we hear the Easter story often, it loses its surprise. The zinger becomes familiar, the words worn. To restore our appreciation of the feast's meaning, it may be helpful to think of an alternate ending to the story.
For example, reflect on this series of "what ifs?": What if the whole scenario ended on Golgotha, and all farewells were final? What if a rock sealed the tomb with a heavy "thunk," and it never re-opened? What if Mary arrived in the pre-dawn darkness and sat staring bitterly at a granite slab? What if Peter and John, exhausted, slept late that morning, then woke to face a dispirited and disillusioned group of disciples? What if they fought over the leadership roles, venting their frustration and disappointment on each other? What if the little band called Christian died out with the last apostle?
Do these hypotheses stir in us a sense of tragic loss? Perhaps they help us realize how drastically different human history would have been if the "what ifs" had been true. They also prompt us to wonder how different our own experience would be without the resurrection. We may know intellectually that Easter marks a new creation and that the evangelists announce a new beginning for the human race this day. But what does that news mean in our daily lives?
Those who entered the empty tomb found no trace of Jesus. Everything associated with his death has been abandoned, even the grave cloths. We can learn from this action that those who would follow Christ must also abandon that which is death-dealing: habits that kill the body and relationships that kill the soul, the violence of weapons and harsh words, money and energy expended on destruction rather than creation. We may be sad, but we cannot be hopeless because that is an affront to our risen Lord. By defying death, he gave us grounds for an unending and unlimited hope. He deprived the cynics and the pessimists of any truth in their viewpoint because he disarmed the ultimate evil: death. Anxiety about lesser enemies seems trivial in comparison.
With four words, John shows us the proper response to such a revelation: "he saw and believed." The empty tomb calls us to trust God in any situation that seems dead-ended. The psalmist uses the image of the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone to show how God can bring surprising reversals out of that which appears to be lost.
Paul teaches us how the Easter message can lift our sights. Because we are destined for eternal life, it is silly to waste our time and talents on that which is merely transitory. When, inevitably, we must fuss with the things of this world, we can do so with humor and detachment, knowing how ephemeral they are.
As we return to our routines this week, will the Easter celebration make a difference? If we plod through our duties doggedly, skeptical that we can ever effect change, then we are living as though Easter had not happened. If we resume habits that are slowly killing us physically or spiritually, then we act as though the sad "what ifs" came true. But if we eagerly launch a week filled with potential, beauty, and challenge, hopeful about our ministry and committed to our risen Lord, then we have truly invited Christ to easter in us.
Quietly consider:
How can I believe in Jesus’ presence in the “empty tombs” of my life?
