Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, March 31, 2013 Read – Luke 24:1-13 It is still likely that Mark is the source for Luke’s gospel – of course that will end at this point since Mark’s story of the resurrection is incredibly short containing only eight verses and ending with the women leaving the tomb in fear and saying nothing to any one – the longer endings of Mark’s gospel are almost certainly additions from others who were not satisfied with Mark’s ending. Luke likely was not aware of any of them. Typical of Luke he has modified Mark’s story. We may have noticed by now that Luke has not named the women involved – that will come soon enough. Mark does, but Luke simply omits their names. Luke tells us they head for the tomb at first light on the day after the Sabbath – that would make it dawn on Sunday morning. They bring the spices they had prepared prior to the Sabbath. Obviously the women think that they will find the dead body of Jesus. All of the gospel writers are insistent on the fact that Jesus was really dead. Luke omits Mark’s comments by the women wondering how they will roll the huge stone away and simply tells us that when they arrived at the tomb they found that the stone had already been rolled back. Having entered the tomb they discover that the body is missing and Luke tells us they are perplexed with this occurrence – likely they assumed someone had stolen the body – now what were they to do? In their confusion the women see a vision of two angels dressed in dazzling apparel. Mark had said the women saw a young man dressed in a white robe. Readers of Luke’s gospel are immediately reminded of the scene at the Mount of Transfiguration where the disciples and Jesus are met by two men – Moses and Elijah – and that at that time it was Jesus whose clothes became dazzling white (Luke 9:29). At first the women do not seem to be impressed with the two men – they remain head down in sorrow although they are frightened. The words of the angels are striking – “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” They should have known better! But how could they? The next word the angels speak is also incredibly important – it is the word “remember!” What they are to remember is also very important – they are to remember what Jesus told them – that he would be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise. The next words in Luke’s gospel are crucial for understanding the whole message – Luke tells us that they remembered! We will need to watch for that word “remember” in the remainder of Luke’s gospel. Luke’s words are quite different from Mark’s – Mark had written that the young man told the women that Jesus was risen and that they were to go and tell the disciples, and Peter, that he was going ahead of them to Galilee where they will see him. In Luke’s gospel the disciples never go back to Galilee – neither does Jesus – everything is centered upon Jerusalem and the Temple there! We will need to think more about that later. The response of the women is also very different in Luke from what it is in Mark – as mentioned, in Mark they flee away speechless! – in Luke they return from the tomb and tell the eleven and all the rest. It is only at this point that Luke identifies who the women were – they turn out to be essentially the same women Mark had spoken of with the substitution of Joanna for Salome. The report of the women announcing what they have discovered and likely their joy upon “remembering” was not well received by the eleven and the rest – they thought it was an idle tale! In words that sound a lot like the story of the resurrection in John’s gospel, Luke tells us that Peter went to the tomb to check it out but he was not able to verify anything about the resurrection except that the tomb was empty and went back home amazed. Perhaps empty tombs alone are not enough to create believing faith! Readers of Luke’s gospel just know that something more has to be coming! And there certainly is. Next week we will move on the story of the walk to Emmaus.