Luke 24:1-6
“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning,
the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found
the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find
the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two
men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright
the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!”
Can you imagine the scene? These women were obviously
dedicated to Jesus and were probably very confused as they finished their
Sabbath and prepared to embalm the Lord. Thoughts and questions must have
whirled in the heads as they tried to make sense of what they had been taught
by Jesus, and then what they had witnessed two days before. Something must have
gone terribly wrong. Jesus said He was a King. They had high hopes that their
lives would be different…but then He was murdered on a cross. How could it be?
As the women made their way to the tomb that morning did they speak? Did they
reminisce about the Lord? Did they smile at His memory? Did they walk in
silence? Were their hearts grieving too much to be able to speak? Were they
sad, or angry?
Once they arrived at the tomb and saw that the heavy stone
had been removed from the grave, did they cling to each other before they went
inside? Did they whisper questions to each other, or simply exchange confused
glances? And what happened in their hearts when they saw the burial linens, but
no body? Did they stare in disbelief? Did they rejoice? And as they were
standing in wonderment, how did they feel when their eyes rested upon two
gleaming men who suddenly stood before them? What did they truly think when
they heard the words: “He is not here, He is risen!”?
My “something new” that I pondered this Easter Sunday was
the fact that there were angels waiting at the tomb. The Gospels do not all
agree on how many there were, or what they looked like, but the consensus is
clear that there was definitely a heavenly being of some sort at the grave of
our Lord. I thought about Jesus’ first night in our world and about the
heavenly host singing to announce the news of His birth. And then, on the
morning of His resurrection, there is an angel to praise about His rising as
well. I never thought about it before, but it is a really precious image to
realize that God used angels to announce the beginning and the end of Jesus’
time here on earth. A word comes to mind: “inclusio”. Inclusio is a literary device used when
reading Scripture. It is also known as “bracketing”. Basically, an inclusio is
a portion of Scripture that begins and ends in the same wording, style or
fashion. An obvious example of an inclusio Psalm would be Psalm 148 where it
begins by saying in verse one: “Praise the Lord!” and ends in verse fourteen by
repeating: “Praise the Lord!”
I thought about this word because I believe Jesus’ life here
on earth was an inclusio life. It began with God’s angels and it ended with
God’s angels. What a beautiful image!
And how thankful I am that those angels proclaimed such good
news…the news of His glorious birth, but also the news of His victorious
resurrection! Because of what Christ did on the cross, eternal life is
attainable, a relationship with God is possible, and an abundant life is within
reach…all because of Jesus Christ.
Praise to God for a LIVING hope!
“Praise be to the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!”
1 Peter 1:3
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