The Resurrection story is a very familiar story to all of us. But by re-reading the Gospels you can still find a lot of little details, and of course, you can learn new lessons.
Here are some little details and accompanying lessons:
First, in all the Gospel accounts the angels only showed themselves to the women.
If you read John 20:1-18, Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-8 and Luke 24:1-10, then you will notice that the angels talked to the women only.
It might not be very valuable now in this age which we know about women’s rights and equality, but from a historical perspective, this kind of presentation or writing is very valuable. Why? The testimony of a woman during New Testament times was not as valuable compared to a man. Oftentimes, it counts for nothing. But why did the Gospel writers stick to this story? The writers could have changed it later since they wrote their accounts 30 to 50 years later, but they did not. Why we ask. The simplest answer is that the account of the women is true and factual. By writing that it was the women whom the angels showed themselves, it gives credence to the resurrection story.
Nowadays, there are a lot of cover-ups. We may never know the real story behind this COVID-19. Fake news continues to exist. A lot of Twitter accounts, for example, were taken down because of it. So, the lesson from the Gospel writers is this: tell the true story!
Second, the women knew where the disciples were hiding.
The Gospels tell us that while Jesus was carrying the cross towards Golgotha, the 10 disciples went into hiding. It was only John who was with the women. There were many women from Galilee who were there. Some of them were named like Mary the mother of Jesus, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, Salome, Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Some are the same individuals but with different descriptions. There were no last names during those times.
The women — Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb with the intention of adding spices to the body of Jesus. They were greeted by the angels and by Jesus Himself. They were afraid yet filled with joy. As instructed, they ran to the disciples to tell the good news.
The detail that is interesting here is that the women knew where the disciples were hiding because of fear. The point here is that the women did not rat them out. They did not inform the authorities out of anger or spite because they ran away. The women gave them a second chance.
Nowadays, due to the pandemic, we have been given a second chance. Graphs of climate change show an improvement in our atmosphere. We have been given a second chance to be with our families. But this second should not have come with the expense of hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by the coronavirus. This second chance is there, all along.
The resurrection of Jesus has given the disciples a second chance. It continues to give us a second chance.
May God bless us all!
Rev. Francis Neil G. Jalando-on