Luke Twenty-Four, part one

Reading: Luke 24.1-12

Scriptures: In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"...When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others...But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. - Luke 24.5-6a, 9,11.

Observations: Expecting to find his body and finish the burial process, the women instead found an empty tomb and two radiant messengers. The women were reminded of what Jesus had told them, and then they ran to tell the "Eleven and all the others." Do you ever wonder who all the others were? I wonder why, after the women were not believed, the angels did not appear to Peter when he got to the tomb. Could it be that God sent the angels to the women first precisely because of the way women were disregarded in that culture? Why would God announce the greatest news ever, that Christ had risen, through the mouths of women, and hide it from Peter, if God didn't want to elevate the status of women?

Apply: Christ is risen! Death is not the final chapter! In spite of everything Jesus had said, no one expected an empty tomb and an earthly resurrection. And for God to entrust the news to women means that this was news that everyone was called to proclaim!

Prayer: Lord, help me to believe even though I haven't seen. Thank you for the women who were the first to believe and the first to proclaim the good news! Help us to believe that You fully trust that women are capable and called to help lead the way to the resurrected Christ!