For Sunday, March 27, 2016 – Luke 24:1-12
Only the women are brave enough to go very early on that first day to the tomb where Jesus has been laid. They want to anoint his bruised and beaten body, to help usher him in to heaven’s realm. They want to see again what they have seen already but still cannot fully believe—their beloved friend, crucified, dead and buried. What sorrow they must feel, and then even more to find the heavy stone moved from the entrance and the tomb empty! Have vandals assaulted the grave and stolen the body? Where can they go now to find what matters most?
Two others stand nearby, dazzling and calm. They ask the women a question that echoes still today in the hearts of all who seek him: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” They remind the women of what Jesus himself has said, and the women do remember those words, now pulsing with meaning. He is alive! They hurry back to share this new news with their brothers who, like so many of us if we are honest, find it hard to believe. Searching, doubting, longing for signs of a resurrection we do not yet see — this, too, is one of the ways the risen one weaves in and through our days.
And so the river flows. Perplexed yet seeking, disbelieving yet hoping, we tell each other the stories of our own empty tombs, our own search for what matters most, our journeys of discovery and disappointment. Why return to the grave of old dreams? That place is empty now. Our old callings, past relationships, the vibrancy of a church that used to be, why keep looking for the living among the dead? The one we follow is forever making new patterns, out ahead of us, hiding in plain sight to be joyfully, fearfully rediscovered.
Why stand mourning at the tomb of old regrets when Jesus is on the move, with no need of a final resting place? This is the hope of resurrection, that death always gives way to life, the dead places around us and within us included. We can take the risk of believing the unbelievable and joining the journey to discover again and again a Life that is truly life. Alleluia! With him, we are no longer dead. We are risen indeed!
