Easter

And when the Sabbath day was over, Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so they could go and embalm him. And very early on the first day of the week they got to the tomb just as the sun was coming up. And they had been asking themselves, “Who will help us roll the stone away from the opening of the tomb?” Then they look up and discover that the stone has been rolled away! (For in fact the stone was very large.)

And when they went into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, wearing a white robe, and they grew apprehensive.

He says to them, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He was raised, he is not here! Look at the spot where they put him! But go and tell his disciples, including ‘Rock,’ he is going ahead of you to Galilee! There you will see him, just as he told you.”

And once they got outside, they ran away from the tomb, because great fear and excitement got the better of them. And they didn’t breathe a word of it to anyone: talk about terrified….

(Mark 16:1-8 SV)

After the Sabbath day, at first light on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to inspect the tomb. And just then there was a strong earthquake. You see, a messenger of the Lord had come down from the sky, arrived [at the tomb], rolled away the stone, and was sitting on it. The messenger gave off a dazzling light and wore clothes as white as snow. Now those who kept watch were paralyzed with fear and looked like corpses themselves.

In response the messenger said to the women, “Don’t be frightened! I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here! You see, he was raised, just as he said. Come, look at the spot where he was lying. And run, tell his disciples that he has been raised from the dead. Don’t forget, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you so.”

And they hurried away from the tomb, full of apprehension and an overpowering joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

And then Jesus met them saying, “Hello!”

They came up and took hold of his feet and paid him homage.

Then Jesus says to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my companions so they can leave for Galilee, where they will see me.”

(Matthew 28:1-10 SV)

On the first day of the week, at daybreak they made their way to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went inside they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

And so, while they were still uncertain about what to do, two figures in dazzling clothing suddenly appeared and stood beside them. Out of sheer fright they prostrated themselves on the ground; the men said to them, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? [He is not here—he was raised.] Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: ‘The son of Adam is destined to be turned over to villains, to be crucified, and on the third day to rise.’” Then they recalled what he had said.

And returning from the tomb, they related everything to the eleven and to everybody else. The group included Mary of Magdala and Joanna and Mary the mother of James, and the rest of the women companions. They related their story to the apostles; but their story seemed nonsense to them, so they refused to believe the women.

(Luke 24:1-11 SV)

On Sunday, by the half-light of the early morning, Mary of Magdala comes to the tomb—and sees that the stone has been moved away. So she runs and comes to Simon Peter and the other disciple—the one that Jesus loved most—and tells them, “They’ve taken the Master from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out, and they make their way to the tomb. The two of them were running along together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to reach the tomb. Stooping down, he could see the strips of burial cloth lying there; but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter comes along behind him and went in. He too sees the strips of burial cloth there, and also the cloth they had used to cover his head, lying not with the strips of burial cloth but rolled up by itself. Then the other disciple, who had been the first to reach the tomb, came in. He saw all this, and he believed. But since neither of them yet understood the prophecy that he was destined to rise from the dead, these disciples went back home.

Mary, however, stood crying outside, and in her tears she stooped to look into the tomb, and she sees two heavenly messengers in white seated where Jesus’ body had lain, one at the head and the other at the feet.

“Woman, why are you crying?” they ask her.

“They’ve taken my Master away,” she tells them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”

No sooner had she said this than she turned around and sees Jesus standing there—but she didn’t know that it was Jesus.

“Woman,” Jesus says to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you’re looking for?”

She could only suppose that it was the gardener, and so she says to him, “Please, mister, if you’ve moved him, tell me where you’ve put him so I can take him away.”

“Mary,” says Jesus.

She turns around and exclaims in Hebrew, “Rabbi!” (which means “Teacher”).

“Don’t touch me,” Jesus tells her, “because I have not yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them this: ‘I’m going back to my Father and your Father—to my God and your God.’”

Mary of Magdala goes and reports to the disciples, “I have seen the Master,” and relates everything he had told her.

(John 20:1-18 SV)

He comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside [see John 21:1-25], he came to those men who knew him not. He speaks to us the same word “Follow thou me!” and sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey him, whether they be wise or simple, he will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in his fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall experience in their lives who he is.

(Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus)