Mark 16:1-8
What if the women had kept their silence forever? Had never told anyone what they saw and heard inside the empty tomb? Would we be celebrating Easter today?
Suppose the story of Jesus ended with his ghastly death on the cross. In spite of all his teaching and healing, do you think there would be any Christians now? Suppose his disappointed followers had simply gone back to their former lives without the witness of these women.
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome were simply doing what their tradition required: coming to anoint the dead body of a loved one with oil and spices. Yes, they worried about the stone – but they went anyway.
I’m guessing that the women did not stay silent, that they told their families and friends, eyes wide with wonder. Maybe this was an early #Me Too moment. Perhaps their story was confirmed by other sightings. Maybe the couple walking to Emmaus said softly, “We too saw him – and then he was gone.” And so the story was passed from person to person, making meaning of those moments of resurrection in the darkest places where death seemed to have the last word.
What if the resurrection is still happening, person by person, as we enter into those empty places and encounter hope instead? What if your story and mine really matter?
– Marjory Bankson
• When have you felt terrified into silence?
• How have you experienced hope in a surprising place?
• Where have you shared that story?
