In Today's Gospel, we read about the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus. They had seen Him killed and knew where He was buried. They return to do homage to the Lord. I think this is one of the great examples of love and faith in the Bible. While Jesus' other followers wallowed in their sorrow and perceived defeat, these women boldly went forth at the break of day to honor their Rabbi. These women were the ones who discovered the empty tomb, who got to see and speak with angels and first behold the Risen Lord.
It is interesting that the report of the women was not believed right away. Imagine the disciples hearing that Jesus' tomb was empty and the angels there reported that He had risen. We can understand their incredulity. Every day we encounter our own incredulity at the work of God. At some point in our life, we tend to lose the child-like awe of God and the wonders He has made in the world and develop a callous exterior. We don't want to be let down another time. Too many failed expectations. We become cynical.
But God is always doing things to turn our expectations upside down. Things like we read about in the resurrection accounts. He is constantly drawing our gaze upward.
The women disciples of Jesus return to the tomb. Maybe they were expecting something, given the words the Lord spoke to them ("He...would rise on the third day."). They might have remembered and held out hope for something amazing. If so, they were not let down.
Another key point from today's passage is that message of the resurrection could not be bottled up. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the Mother of James all return to the other disciples, with some presumable haste, to report what they saw and heard. There was no hesitation. Just an immediate response to the work of God. May we respond to the Lord in such a way.
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