The Empty Tomb - Luke 24: 1-12

The Sabbath is over. The day of rest. But the women cannot rest. All they could think of was the body of their Lord.

They wanted to care for it properly. To anoint it with spices and re-wrap it with linen. 

Proper. None of this seems proper. He was dead. Jesus was dead. They could barely bring themselves to say it out loud. They had watched just a week earlier as he had road the colt through Jerusalem. Now. Now they had killed him. The same crowds that had welcomed him had cried for him to be crucified. The disciples had fled. All except John. 

No one spoke as they walked through the darkness of day, carrying their spices. Going to anoint the body of their friend,  their teacher who had died too young. As they got closer to the tomb someone must have started to wonder exactly how they were going to be able to entered the tomb since it was sealed with a stone. 

Oh the stone. The stone that the Roman guards had placed over the entrance so that no one would steal Christ’s body. Did they really think they would do that? That Christ’s disciples who didn’t even have the courage to watch him die would steal his body? Didn’t they know Jewish custom? That touching a dead body would make them impure? No touching the body was women’s work, and the women certainly weren’t going to steal his body. Now that foolish stone was blocking them from what they had set out to do. 

 Then as they reached the tomb, it became a non-issue. The stone was rolled away. A stone that would have taken several men to move was rolled away. The women bravely top another step forward, entering the tomb, where they saw two angels.

And sure enough as the angels spoke their worlds were altered - Jesus is risen! Jesus’ body was no longer there. There was no ritual cleansing and anointing to perform. For he had risen. Just like Lazarus! And they were to go tell Peter and the other disciples this news - news they could hardly believe. Oh Lord, help their unbelief. 

So the women went forth from the tomb, first in a daze then in a panic followed by a rush of excitement. They went forth as the first evangelists to proclaim the good news - Jesus, Jesus was not dead. He was risen. How could this be? He is risen! What does this mean? He is risen! He is risen indeed!