This year, the Gospel is Luke 24:1-12. This resurrection account is similar to other reports, but Luke has a unique way of telling the story. He simply says "they" came to the tomb and does not say who these women were until verse 10. The women find the tomb open with Jesus' body missing, and they are perplexed. This perplexity turns to amazement when two angelic beings tell them that Jesus has risen from the dead as He predicted. The women accept this message and return to share it with the eleven apostles and others. However, the men hesitate to believe the women's report. Peter has to go see for himself, and even then, his initial response to the empty tomb is merely wonder.
Luke's account highlights two points about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. First, the events of Holy Week had traumatized the disciples. They had not really understood or appreciated the divine plan for salvation in Jesus Christ. Although they loved Him, they had not really listened. They had not expected His crucifixion or His resurrection. They were shocked and depressed, and they were slow to understand the meaning of the empty tomb.
Secondly, as this passage starts to show and other accounts develop further, Christ's disciples slowly came to believe firmly in His resurrection. If anything, the initial discouragement, perplexity, and surprise of the disciples make their later witness to the resurrection more powerful. The disciples were not confident plotters trying to mislead others. They were humble people transformed by divine revelation and miraculous grace. Let us pray that the same divine revelation and grace may transform us into witnesses for the risen Lord Jesus!
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