It’s impossible for us to read the resurrection stories without the benefit of hindsight. We know in advance what’s going to happen; we’re in on the plot. Not so for the women who first ventured to the tomb, intent only on anointing the body of their friend and Lord. This was, they assumed, to be a last tearful farewell, a final gesture of love as they tried somehow to come to terms with their grief. Only, of course, it wasn’t. As this session from A Most Amazing Man C makes clear, it was instead to be an experience of joy and wonder; an out-of-this-world moment that transformed not just their lives but that of countless others, both then and now, and over the centuries in between, as light shone out of the darkness, life emerged out of death.
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Read
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. Luke 24:1–2
The meditation of Joanna, follower of Jesus
There was something in the air that morning,
something special,
extraordinary,
almost out of this world.
We couldn’t put our finger on it,
but even though our hearts were heavy within us,
our eyes blinded by tears,
we had this strange sense that the day was going to be different from
any other:
one we would never forget.
We put it down at first to grief,
for we were going, don’t forget, to anoint the body of our Lord –
to bid our last farewells
and say goodbye to our dreams,
yet though the time was all about endings,
it seemed also to speak of beginnings:
of a new start,
promise,
hope for the future.
Was it just the sights and sounds of dawn:
the chorus of birds greeting another day,
the freshness of dew wet on the grass,
life stirring again?
Some say so,
even now,
despite everything –
despite the stone rolled away,
folded grave clothes,
the empty tomb –
but though it took us a while to accept
and longer still to understand,
we know different,
aware that there really was something in the air that morning,
more special and out of this world than words can say.
What of you?
Have you learned the truth?
Have you grasped the wonder of what God has somehow done?
The sun was rising as we went to the tomb,
but the Son had already risen!
Prayer
Come, Lord, in your resurrection power,
into our lives,
into our world,
and may your light shine,
your grace transform,
your love renew.
Wherever people walk in darkness –
of despair,
of suffering,
of fear,
of evil –
bring a new dawn,
a fresh start:
sunrise in their hearts.
Amen.