Three Women

 April 4, 2021

Three ordinary women trudged through the half-light of early morning, carrying jars of anointing oil, their hearts laden with grief. The man who had delivered one of them from the demonic oppression that had haunted and controlled her for years had been executed in the most cruel and heartless manner the authorities could devise. Circumstances had prevented a proper burial, so they were determined to finish the job, unpleasant though it would be. Approaching the tomb, their worst fears rose within them, lodging in their throats—grave robbers! They were to be denied this last gift of gratitude they hoped to offer.

Hesitantly they approach, afraid to look upon the scene they knew they would find; closer they moved, tentatively, eyes darting back and forth between them, trembling with each step till they were almost at the entrance. A flash of light and suddenly a man was sitting on the stone that had been rolled across the doorway. “Don’t be afraid! You’re looking for Jesus; he isn’t here. He is risen as he said!”

Three ordinary women were the first to hear this strange message. They were just women—in those days, their testimony would have been considered irrelevant, unreliable; just foolish women-talk. But from those three, the message has spread all around the world, mocked and scorned by many, but believed by many more whose lives have been transformed by it. Despair gives way to hope, sin yields before grace, and death bows to life as one by one, people hear and believe that message. Even today, tears of sorrow mingle with tears of joy as believers lay their loved ones in the ground, longing and looking for the day when every ear will hear his voice and rise from graves to glory. “I am the resurrection and the life...because I live, you shall live also!” (John 11:25 & 14:19) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!