My Sisters Gospel Reflection

Easter Sunday

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and Mary Magdalene arrives early at the tomb. Her heart is grieving for the Lord. Darkness shrouds the earth, it is before dawn, and the light of faith not yet risen in her heart. The night still reigns, yet this is illusion! Something unforeseen, new, living—pulsing with hope—has emptied the tomb of death in the night.

Mary is shocked. Nothing is as it was, yet she does not yet understand what is to be. The idea of Christ alive—risen!—is still unthinkable, beyond possibility. Mary runs to the disciples not in hope, but in desperation: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” She runs in fear, believing the tomb has been raided, the body of the one she loves stolen in the night. She runs, because she cannot face this alone.

This is a meditation on this Gospel from one of my sisters:

Why do our hearts resist resurrection? Why can’t we grasp the possibility of new life? Sometimes, it’s harder to embrace resurrection than the cross! Why? What keeps us from seeing and believing, as John does?

Perhaps it is because accepting resurrection means accepting all that came before it. All the pain, chaos, and confusion were necessary in order to bring us this new life of joy, freedom, and hope. The resurrection cannot exist without the cross. We rebel against this reality. Yet it remains true, both in the life of Christ, and in our own lives. Somehow, it is often in our times of deepest darkness, in the secretive silence of the tomb, that Christ brings us the most profound gifts of grace, insight, maturation, and growth. Jesus then comes and raids our tombs of death with his new life! And we find that we are a new creation. We are utterly transformed!

We may, at times, find ourselves with Mary, weeping before an empty tomb. Yet we know that in a few short hours, Mary’s profound grief and fear give way to profound wonder, joy, and awe!

If you have enjoyed this meditation, you’ll find meditations on all the Gospels of the Easter season in Easter Grace.

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