On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words (Luke 24:1-8). In Genesis, God's creation work is completed in six days, the seventh is for rest. Here, at the heart of redemption history, on the sixth day, the work of salvation is complete (23:54; cf. Jn. 19:30). And Luke points out that on the seventh day 'they rested according to the commandment' (23:56). And now, 'on the first day' (24:1) a new week begins. It is the first day of a new era, a new creation. A whole new world is coming into being on that first Christian Sunday. Thus, Luke ends his Gospel with an account of that first day which begins the new age. In Genesis, the creation story begins with "Let there be light" and there was light (1:3). Rather dramatic. This new era begins with far less drama. Women are going to the tomb to rub spices into a dead body. But when they get there, the tomb is mysteriously open, and the body is gone. While they are wondering about this, two men with clothing bright like lightning appear. The women are frightened and bow to the ground. Like in Genesis, God is at work, but here, he is in the background. The men say, "[Jesus] is not here; he has been raised!" telling us that God is responsible for Jesus' return to life. God has intervened, just as Jesus promised. "Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again'" (9:22). Jesus is alive. The tomb could not hold him. They remember his words, but there is no 'aha' moment. They don't seem to know what to do with this information. They are puzzled, and understandably so; 'resurrection', in their world, was what God would do in the end for all the righteous dead, giving renewed bodies to everyone from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob down to the most recent righteous martyrs. This resurrection would be a large-scale event. After Israel's great and final suffering, all God's people would be given new life, new bodies. We shouldn't be surprised at how surprised they were on the first Easter morning. It wasn't just a lack of faith that had stopped them understanding what Jesus had said about his rising again. Nobody had dreamed that one single living person would be killed stone dead and then raised to a new bodily life the other side of the grave, while the rest of the world carried on as before. The women, obviously, weren't expecting it. They weren't going to the tomb saying to themselves, 'Well, we've got the spices in case he's still dead, but let's hope he's alive again.' They knew well enough that dead people remained dead. Nobody was expecting this. The opening mood of Easter morning is one of surprise, astonishment, fear, and confusion. It will take some time before Jesus' disciples believe in this new era. Its all a bit much to believe. And isn't that still true today? It's a bit much to believe. Many will not believe it. Who can blame them? If its true, it's the biggest news in the world. But most of the world is carrying as before. And so often, Christians as well, carry on as if nothing really happened, early on that first day of the week. God did the work in the beginning. God did the work of raising Jesus from the dead. Before people can come to their 'aha' moment, and believe that Jesus is alive, God needs to be at work in them, bringing them to faith. The resurrection is cause for rejoicing. But it is also a cause for prayer, that God will bring people to this astonishing faith: He has risen. Maybe we need to begin with prayer for ourselves, that we will not carry on as if nothing has happened.

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