But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb,taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12, ESV)
The end of the story goes that the women went to the tomb to complete the work that needed to be done on Jesus’ body that was interrupted because of the Sabbath, and when they get there they discover that the end of the story is not the end at all…
They discover that He is not there. He was raised up from the dead. So even in the end, God through Jesus is throwing societal norms away. He is using women as the first witnesses to the resurrection. Property, in that time period, are the first to witness the resurrection of Jesus. They go and tell the disciples and they find it to be an idol tale… They do not believe. I do not find this hard to believe, if you read the gospels, the disciples are not the sharpest or brightest crayons in the box, but really? The women come back and tell them that Jesus who was dead, has been raised, and didn’t He tell us this was going to happen, several times? And they don’t get it… They tell the women it is just an idol tale.
But something clicks with Peter… He gets up and goes to the tomb to see for himself. And when he looks in and sees the linen clothes by themselves, what does he do? He does not go running to tell the others it is real. He goes away marveling at these things…
I wonder does Peter really get it? Is he worried about denying Jesus three times? Why would he not be running in the streets shouting the wonders that God has done for him and for all of creation?
But then, why are we not running in the streets shouting about what God has done for us and for all of creation?
Are we not like Peter and the disciples, marveling, or saying it is an idol tale?
Do we really believe the story we say is true and the basis of our faith?
And if we say yes, what are we doing about it?
Is the truth unbelievable? And inconceivable?
If you really believe the story, why are you not telling everyone you know?
So I wonder if we are not a lot like Peter…
Do we really get it?
aSacredRebel 