Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Saturday
evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and
Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at
sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the
way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the
entrance to the tomb?” But as they
arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had
already been rolled aside. When they
entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the
right side. The women were shocked, but
the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You
are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including
Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you
before he died.” The women fled from the
tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they
were too frightened. Mark 16:1-8(NLT)
After six weeks of
Lenten season focusing on fasting, praying, and facing the cross, it is now an
incredible lifting of a weight to bask in the resurrection. Beating, blood, and a borrowed tomb are left
behind; with death eternally-defeated, we embrace the living Lord in His
majesty and honor.
This scene, with
the women discovering an angel sitting in the tomb, where they expected to find
Jesus’ body, and them mistaking the angel for a young man always brings an
ironic smile to my face. I’ve never been
accused of being a radical feminist, but considering it was a male-dominated
society, it has always amused me that the men were in hiding while the women
went to respectfully honor the body of their Lord.
Even more ironic
is how much this scene highlights the distance our culture wants to put between
itself and the truth. For instance, if
you shop online, or go to retail stores to look for “angels” you will find
something like 99.999% of the statues have a feminine, almost dainty appearance. That is a far cry from the warrior-like beings
you actually encounter in Scripture.
But…I digress…this
isn’t about an angel, or even the women, per se; this is all about a missing
body. But, once again putting aside this
culture’s fascination with bodies that should be in a grave, but are The
Walking Dead, Jesus was not that…at ALL!!!
If you noticed, at
the end of this encounter with the angel, the women, having just been told
Jesus is walking around alive, do not immediately assume he has become a
zombie. They’re overwhelmed, because
dead men DON’T walk! And
they’re so overwhelmed, they keep this news to themselves.
And this brings us
to the
rub of it all…when it comes to the resurrection:
·
it’s ok to be overwhelmed – it is
overwhelming to leave death behind
·
it’s ok to tremble – it is frightning
to see the natural and expected overturned
·
it’s ok to wonder and ponder over
such monumental considerations – it’s confusing (at the very least) to entertain
the idea of eternity!
The one thing NOT
alright when you encounter the resurrection is to keep it to yourself.
For You Today
You’ve been somber
for six weeks, fasting, praying and facing the cross. There was blood, a body, and a borrowed
tomb. It’s about time we do with the
Good News of resurrection what Jesus said about Lazarus coming out of that
tomb:
Take the wraps off this Good Gospel News…Loose it…let it go!
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 
