“Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.” Matthew 27:61
A grieving Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sat across from a first-century burial cave on a Friday afternoon two thousand years ago. They’d watched Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus’ body and a clean linen cloth into his own unused tomb. Upon exiting the tomb he’d rolled a stone over the entrance, glanced at the grieving women, and exited the garden. The two Mary’s sat alone, trying to comfort each other as they mourned the loss of the man they had believed to be the Messiah.
How would Jesus’ death change the women’s lives? No longer would they shadow Jesus as he healed and taught from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee and back to Jerusalem. Would they continue to worship in the temple? Huddle together with other believers and discuss what went wrong? Where would they live? Who would be willing to provide for their daily needs? So many questions. So many decisions to be made.
They didn’t realize that their pain was temporary, for on Sunday their fears were replaced by joy after they met their risen Savior in the garden. They still didn’t have the answers to all their questions, but their faith was revived and their belief in Jesus renewed.
We, too, can experience the Easter story, for that same hope and joy are available to us when we meet the risen Lord.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, Thank you for the Easter story. Because of it, we have the joy of knowing you. Amen