Every Monday, CEPAD staff gather to reflect together before we start our week. Since we celebrated Easter yesterday, we read the story of the resurrection from Matthew 28.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lighting, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We want to share just a few things that stood out to us in this passage:

• Jesus first revealed himself to two women. He did not go to the priests or the powerful religious leaders. He did not even go to his eleven first, but chose to appear to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. In these times, women were of a lower social class than men, more vulnerable. By revealing himself to these two first, he allowed that the good news of his resurrection be shared by women, that they would be seen as equal believers.
• People will go to great lengths to hide the truth. Instead of believing in the true resurrection, the chief priests paid the guards to lie about what had happened. And we see what a fragile lie this is – that the disciples came in the night and stole away His body. If this were true, the guards should have been punished or even killed for sleeping on the job. Second, if the guards really were asleep and didn’t hear the great commotion it would have taken for the disciples to roll the stone away, how would they have known it was the disciples? Even today, we see people go to great lengths to deny Jesus and God’s Word. Will we choose to believe the guards or the witnesses?
• The angel extended a great invitation to the two women. “Come and see the place where he lay.” The angel could have just told them that Jesus was gone and to run and tell the others. Instead, the angel knew the claims they were making and invited the two women to see for themselves. After all, a resurrection is almost an unbelievable thing…until you witness it. Providing the opportunity to witness the biggest miracle in history is a great honor. And the invitation extends to us today. We may not be able to physically see the place where Jesus rose, but we can accept the invitation to see the goodness of the Lord in our own lives. Will we accept it?

Rereading a familiar story allows us to study it in new ways. Is there something new you’ve seen, experienced, or learned this year during the Easter season?