Friday, April 30, 2021
Absence
Luke’s story of resurrection is longer and more involved than Matthew’s or Mark’s but again we see it is the women who go to the tomb to dress Jesus’ body. They are described as terrified, not of an earthquake, but of the unexpected absence of Jesus’ body. They take in this news delivered by two men in dazzling white who share words of peace, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee”. The facts are plain – Jesus is not in the tomb. The implications are enormous – Jesus’ resurrection will have changed their lives forever. They will never again see the world in the same way. They will never again see others in the same way. They will never again see the empty tomb in the same way. These early followers of Christ understand that everything has changed now that they have witnessed the Easter miracle. (Luke 24)
If we spend time today with this and the other three resurrection stories (Matthew 26, Mark 16 and John 20) we can compare our own Easter experience to the one recorded for us. As we reflect, let us consider: How do we continue to live as before now that we have been offered the gift of resurrection? What do we change about our behavior now that we have seen the risen Christ? How do we respond to God’s call for us to live in newness . . . now that we have experienced the fullness of the empty tomb?
Tomorrow, the story as told by John.
Image from: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/crossexamined/2012/04/women-at-the-tomb-weak-evidence-for-the-resurrection/
The Noontimes 
