Thursday within the Octave of the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord
Scripture: St. Luke 24:1-12 (NKJV)
24:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
Devotion
St. Luke gets all of the historical details, especially the embarrassing ones. As Moses reported Abraham’s repeated lying to Pharaoh, Luke demonstrates his veracity by reporting the slowness to believe of the women and the Eleven.
The women went to embalm Jesus. Yet, had He not said that He would arise? The tomb was open and they were perplexed; angels appeared, and they bowed their frightened faces. Yet the Risen One is greater than these; why did they not fear and hear Him? “Why do you seek the living among the dead?…Remember how He spoke to you?”
The visible Church often seems like these ladies: they love Jesus, but they forget why. His Words must be kept if one is to be His disciple indeed (John 8:31). Jesus had told Martha that “the better part” is hearing Him (Luke 10:42). Service must come from and be subject to listening, to doctrine, to believing.
The women’s report —the angel’s words!—seemed like idle tales to the Eleven, like nonsense. Their Office is to speak Christ’s Word so that hearers actually hear Christ through them (Luke 10:16). Yet, the chief power of Christ’s Office is His Word, and they must accept being reminded of it. They must hold it purely, so they both believe it themselves (1 Cor. 9:27) and proclaim it “in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). Finally grasping this, Peter runs to the tomb and marvels. What they said was true; what He said was true!
Prayer: Because You live, O Lord, we, too, shall live; grant that we seek Your life ever in Your gracious Word, wherever you proclaim it through Your servants, absolving us and feeding us with Your own Body and Blood. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
