Read Luke 24:1-12
Commentary | Dr. Karoline M. Lewis
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women go to the tomb and find it empty. This is good news! But is it? Through the messengers at the tomb, the women remember Jesus’ assurances and return to the disciples with the news. And what do the disciples say? Not just words of disbelief but downright dismissal. While translations will render their reaction as “an idle tale,” “foolish talk,” or “nonsense,” the real meaning of the Greek word is “garbage.” The women announce Jesus’ promises fulfilled and the response—from the ones who were closest to Jesus— is, “yeah, well, that’s a bunch of rubbish.”
There is so much truth and honesty in this reaction. After all, the good news frequently seems too good to be true. If the tomb is empty, if Jesus has been raised from the dead, then life as we’ve known and expected it is no longer. The world has been turned upside down (Acts 17:6). And if the world has been turned upside down, how do we even know how to live? If the disciples thought the resurrection was a pile of trash, what are people going to think when we confess belief in the resurrection?
“Could it really be true?” is the question I think Peter asked himself, and with hope on his heels, he ran to the tomb to see for himself. Peter goes home wondering and it’s in that wondering that the meaning of the resurrection lies. The resurrection only makes sense when we remain amazed, marveling and wondering at the love of God that reversed death itself. We are not asked to explain the resurrection, offer proof for the resurrection, or make a case for the resurrection. Instead, like Peter, we live in wonder—for how belief in the God of resurrection truly can change the world.
Reflect: What fills you with awe and wonder today?
reprinted with permission from A Sanctified Art
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