50 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
+++
|
||
title = "Luke 24:1–12"
|
||
date = "2023-02-23"
|
||
+++
|
||
|
||
### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk24.1-12)
|
||
|
||
It's kind of funny how each of the Gospels includes different details, when
|
||
they share an event in common. I would have liked to discuss the soldiers
|
||
guarding the tomb of Jesus, and the seal that had been placed on the stone that
|
||
closed off the tomb. But it's not in our text today, so I shall refrain.
|
||
Instead we will focus as Luke does on the women who have come to finish the
|
||
hasty burial preparations for Jesus now that the Sabbath is over. Since Sabbath
|
||
ended at sundown, they may have worked through the night in order to get things
|
||
ready as early as they did. Their love for Jesus was so strong that they wanted
|
||
to honor Him in death as well as they could as soon as they could.
|
||
|
||
Having a stone to close the tomb was a common practice, and Mark's account
|
||
tells us they saw it put in place and also that they wondered who would roll it
|
||
out of the way for them. When they reached the tomb, however, they find the
|
||
stone in front of it has been rolled away, and Jesus's body is not there.
|
||
Instead, two men in dazzling clothes appear before them and remind them of the
|
||
things Jesus said about rising again after He would be crucified.
|
||
|
||
Note how the women react to seeing these two angels (as John and Matthew call
|
||
them). They bow their faces to the ground in fear. Angels can be incognito and
|
||
appear as normal men, but when they reveal themselves for what they are, this
|
||
is how everyone reacts when they see them, if they don't faint outright. If
|
||
anyone tells you they met an angel, and it wasn't the scariest thing they've
|
||
ever seen, then they are lying or deceived.
|
||
|
||
The veil of forgetfulness has now been lifted from the women, and they remember
|
||
that Jesus did say He would rise again, so they do as the angels instruct them
|
||
and go tell the other disciples about it. For first-century Jews, this is
|
||
radical that women are the ones who get to tell everyone else what's been going
|
||
on. The disciples didn't believe them at first not because these women are
|
||
prone to telling tales, but because they were from a culture that didn't value
|
||
anything women had to say. Court cases required two witnesses to provide ample
|
||
evidence of an accusation, but only if they were men.
|
||
|
||
Peter may not have believed everything they said, but it was enough to get him
|
||
to go to the tomb to see for himself. He runs to the tomb, anxious to know what
|
||
he will find. And it's just as the women said: Jesus isn't there, but the
|
||
burial clothes are. He still doesn't know what to make of it as he heads home.
|
||
|
||
* * *
|
||
|
||
Keep Your words ever in our minds, so that we may live according to them, and
|
||
give You the honor and praise You deserve.
|