The Resurrection of our Lord: Gospel, Luke 24:1-12                

Luke 24:1-12

Luke’s gospel brings to us the resurrection narrative for this day of celebration. Victory in Christ’s resurrection is a constant theme of this day’s worship. But Luke lets us in on how the original “news” of Christ’s triumph over death and the grave was received. The faithful women of Jesus’ band had received angelic words that Christ was indeed risen and had fulfilled what he had promised for the third day following his cruel death. They reported to the apostles but “their words seem to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them” (Luke 12:11, NKJV).

You can’t cross the threshold of our church building on Easter Sunday without hearing the refrain, “He is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!” It’s one of the things about the day I love the most. God’s people announce the gospel’s principal glory to each other with great joy and exuberance. Not so apparently on that first Easter. Fear, uncertainty and unbelief marked the responses to the first announcement of the Savior’s resurrection. It would be simple to criticize, but the subject is a bit out of the norm of everyday life, whether first or twenty-first century. Dead rabbis don’t just rise and leave their tombs.

Well, one did. And so much more than a rabbi. The King of Creation, the Lord of glory, brought death to its knees that morning. And the chatter which has grown from the gaze into that empty tomb is still being heard. And it’s anything but idle.