When Jesus died, they all saw it: his family, his best friends, his apostles, his other followers, and his enemies. They watched as he took his last breath. They saw the soldier check by thrusting the spear into his side. Blood and water flowed. He was dead. They helped take him down from the cross, laid him in the tomb, and watched as the soldiers placed the stone over the opening to seal it from intruders. Then they went home. The women prepared the spices for his embalming process, but they couldn’t go back. The law wouldn’t allow them. They couldn’t come in contact with a corpse on a Sabbath (Saturday). They would need to wait.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (Luke 24:1-3 NIV)
They women were ready to grieve that day, preparing his body for the tomb. Instead they found the tomb opened, the soldiers gone, and the body missing. Their grief would take a turn that morning. The direction it would turn, though, would be determined by the truth they would discover. What happened to the body of Jesus?
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 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? (Luke 24:4-5 NIV)
The living? What are they talking about? And who are these men? Did they do something with his body? Why are they telling us these things?
He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24:6-8 NIV)
The women started their day thinking Jesus was dead. Not only that, they were coming to the tomb to prepare his body and mourn his passing. Instead, they were convinced that Jesus was alive.
How about you? Would you have been convinced if you were with these women on the path of life?
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