Matthew 28:1-10

                                    “The Women”

It was the women, always the women, who were steadfast in their faithfulness and who first witnessed the resurrected Lord.  The women stayed with him at the foot of the cross, not the faithless disciples who ran away in fear and shame.  It was the women who prepared his body for burial and laid him in the tomb, a job unfit for men to perform in their culture.  After all, the dead were unclean.  And it was the women who were there when Jesus appeared in all his glory.  And it was the women who first believed what they had seen.  It took longer for the others to come to realize what had actually happened.  Jesus stood with them, ate with them, talked to them.  But they couldn’t see or believe.  It had to dawn on them slowly.  Thomas even demanded proof.  But the women knew and believed right away.  After all, they were there from beginning to end.  They needed no convincing.  They just knew.

And on this wonderful night, the dawn of a new era and a new life, I urge you to be like the women.  You have stayed with Jesus through his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his agony in the garden, and the awful hours of his betrayal and death.  And you are with him now as he bursts forth in glory and triumph over death.  It is true.  Christ has come again as he said he would.  He has broken the bonds of sin and death.  The first fire has been struck, light has replaced darkness, and we sing Alleluia.

It is true.  Christ is alive.  Sing his praises with joy and thanksgiving.  There is no greater love that God could show to us than to send his only son to live with us, to die for us, and to rise again in glory.  His resurrection has conquered death.  Through him, we are alive and will live forever.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.