Sometimes I have things that I hope to include in the sermon that don’t make the final cut. Sunday, I had hoped to share more about the women who were the first to believe in the resurrection. I didn’t get to share this in the Easter service, but I get to share it here.
There was no doubt about the credential of the women who were there at the tomb on that first Easter morning. Anyone who says that Jesus didn’t have any women disciples hasn’t read the Gospel of Luke. Luke makes it very clear that a large group of women came with him from Galilee, and they supported him and the others, and made his mission possible.
They were in every respect, disciples. And they were witnesses all along the way.
They were there, watching from a distance, when he hung upon the cross. They were there when the soldiers pulled him down. They were there when Joseph of Arimathea laid him in the rock-hewn tomb. They saw it all with their own eyes. Luke tells us several of their names: “Mary Magdalene, Joann, Mary the mother of James, and the other women.” (24:10) And they were the ones who were there early that morning and found the stone rolled out of place and the tomb empty.
Isn’t it interesting that the first people to encounter the risen Lord and the first to share the news of the resurrection were people who, in that day, were usually dismissed and discounted as reliable witnesses. If you were to create a story of a person being raised from the dead, it would be unlikely to tell it in this way. But all four Gospels tell it just this way.
So, let the message continue to be shared. He is not here. He is risen. He is risen, indeed.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve