Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, open my ears to hear what you have to say to me; open my heart to love your word, and open my mind to understand your truth.
In Luke's story of the Resurrection, it is women who are first at the tomb. They are the ones who will minister to Jesus' body, as they think; a traditional role. It's hard to imagine their feelings as they approached their task: they had loved him deeply and were about to come face to face with his terrible injuries. What actually happened was quite different: an angel's voice and a message of hope. When they told the apostles what had happened, they 'thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them' (verse 11).
It's hard to imagine Luke isn't making a point here: the women were right and the men were wrong. In the culture of the time, this was not how the story was supposed to go; the leaders of the new Church didn't come out of it well. At one level, this is evidence for its truth: if the Gospel writers had just been making it up, they wouldn't have painted their leaders in such a poor light. But at another level, it speaks of the way the gospel does away with hierarchies and traditional chains of authority. All are one in Christ Jesus; the ground is level at the foot of the cross. The women's personal testimony to what they saw with their own eyes was all that counted. No matter who we are, no one can take our story away from us.
God, help me to be open to hearing other people's stories of what you've done in their lives. Disturb me and challenge me, as you challenged the first apostles.
This reflection was written by Mark Woods, Bible Society's Editor
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