Image from aviesplace.wordpress.com
At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn't find the body of the Master Jesus. They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, "Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?" Then they remembered Jesus' words. They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn't believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up. But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that's all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head. (Luke 24:1-12 The Message)
Happy Monday, dear Friend! I trust this finds you and yours doing well. This leaves our home with Nellie and I hopefully on the tail end of a bad cold. We missed worship yesterday because of our cough, congestion and other yucky stuff. Please hold us in your prayers as we want to be well before Easter!
This is the first day of Holy Week. Yesterday Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and by Friday, He was dead. But Sunday, Sunday was Jesus' day - He won over sin and death! Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, that we also call Easter. No better way to start Holy Week than to jump to the good part! The passage for Sunday is today's passage, and it gives us what happened after Jesus' death. We will get right to the passage knowing that this week is full of events that Jesus impacted and I pray impacted us. We will focus on each, but for today we will celebrate a bit early the victory of Jesus' rising from the dead.
Jesus' death occurred on the start of the Sabbath and so proper burial procedures could not be followed. Jewish burial customs were a bit different from ours today, but the necessary precautions were to respect the body while keeping careful attention to not defile oneself for it was considered unclean to touch a corpse. Embalming like we know it today or even how the Egyptians did it, was not an option for them. The customary practice was to place the body into a tomb, usually like a cave, leave the body prepared with spices and let it sit for about a year. After a year, only the bones would be collected and placed in an ossuary, a stone container. This would be buried in the ground. And depending on the resources of the family, some families would have to share ossuaries and tombs. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb and the disciples, especially the women, believed it would be used for a year until they could collect and place the bones in an ossuary. For now their main concern was to properly spice the body for Jesus' proper burial. This gospel has the entrance stone, which other gospels mention as being quite heavy, as already rolled away so the women were able to walk right in and prepare the body. They wonder what has become of the body, but instantly, "almost out of nowhere," two men surrounded by light make their appearance to the women. They ask the question, "Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?" You have to love this version, for it shares Jesus' true nature in the name they say, "the Living One" and of all places, a cemetery, a place for the dead? They remind the women all that Jesus had said would happen, and now those things had come to reality. The women leave to share this news with the disciples, who did not know what to make of what the women were saying. The common consensus was that they did not believe a word of what the women had said, thinking they had made these things up. It makes you wonder how strong a faith the disciples had. Except for Peter, he leapt out of his chair and ran to the tomb. He enters, takes a look around, scratches his head and walks away puzzled. Not the terrific powerful ending one would imagine would accompany such a discovery. But it is an honest approach to our humanity. Though they had been in Jesus' company for three years, some things failed to capture their full attention and comprehension. That happens in life with our struggles and challenges; but we are called to let our faith lead us into victory; yet some times it does not happen as soon as we would like.
Jesus wins. Death could only hold Him for a few hours, the only remnant left were the burial clothes; Jesus' body was now fully alive again. The women were eyewitnesses to an empty tomb and the first to announce the truth - that the tomb could not hold Jesus and heard from angels that Jesus had fulfilled all He had said. Jesus wins.
This story is the fulfillment of all the Bible shares with us. It is the promise of God still with us and helping us overcome all that may come at us. The simple truth is that if Jesus wins, so do we!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, as we start this Holy Week, we turn over to You our lives, our cares and our worries. We want the victory of Jesus to be ours as well. Receive us today and always; this we pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share your victory in Jesus with someone today!
Eradio Valverde
