The Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-10; John 20:1-18

They came to finish burying him. The tomb was already empty.

Sunday, just after dawn. Mary Magdalene and the other women bring spices to anoint Jesus' body. When they arrive, the stone is rolled away. An angel in white sits where the body should be: He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. The women run — afraid and overjoyed. Mary Magdalene lingers at the tomb, weeping. A figure she mistakes for the gardener asks why she's crying. Then he speaks her name: Mary. She turns and recognizes him: Rabboni! Jesus says: Don't hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go and tell the others. She becomes the first witness to the resurrection — a woman, in a culture where women's testimony was worthless. The story that changes everything rests first on her word.

• Resurrection
• Hope
• New Beginning
• Unlikely Witness