8Then they remembered His words. 9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. (Luke 24:8-9, NIV)
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women had prepared spices and perfumes to care for the body of Jesus, but the women could not find the body of Jesus at the same tomb where they had seen Him laid. They had followed Him throughout His years of ministry from Galilee. They continued to be faithful unto Him even after His death. Death had not impeded their discipleship. They rested on the sabbath of His death and went to the market to purchase the spices for burial. However, what they did not expect was to see two men in dazzling clothes ask them not to look for the living among the dead. Needless to say, it scared the living daylights out of them. The angels reminded them: Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that He would be betrayed, crucified and raised again. It was all they could do to remember the spices in their grief; how could they remember what their spirits had heard? Then they remembered His words. To remember was the first step in their resurrection. To remember the words that had been told them by their greatest Friend. After we have lost someone, we remember their words with more weight than ever before. But these words? These words always sounded altogether unbelievable. They may have encountered an empty tomb, but these had not been empty words. And returning from the tomb. After remembering comes the returning. Returning to the rest of the words. Returning to their bodies. Returning to their memories. Returning to look at that empty tomb one more time. Returning to the thin place of belief and unbelief. Wait; so He really meant that? Returning from somewhere is half the journey. They retold all this to the eleven and to all the rest. After remembering and returning comes the re-telling. They retold what they remembered and what had been revealed. They re-membered with the grief-stricken: the eleven and all the rest. As bodies came together, excited words re-telling the encounter sounded too unbelievable. So much so that the rest thought this was an idle tale. How can we blame them? Denial is the first stage of grief. May you find yourself in the company of those who remember, return and re-tell this story, over and over again, be it in times of great belief in a strong resurrection or times of dis-belief in slow or non-existent resurrections. May you return to Jesus’ words, time and time again, as the grounding force of all our fears. And may you return to the bodies who give witness to His with-ness, time and time again. What are the words of Jesus that you need to be reminded of today? Who do you need to retell today of your encounter with Jesus? Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me as Your friend. Thank You for pruning me so that I can bear fruit for You and carry the Gospel to all those whom You love, everywhere. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen. Comments are closed.
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