Untitled Sermon

It was still dark outside as we headed down the winding paths leading out of Jerusalem and toward the tomb where our Lord’s body lay. Salome and Mary, the mother of James, kept pace with me, each carrying a different spice with which to anoint the body. It still hurt to think of Him like that, as a body, when He had been so alive in life. In my distraction, I stumbled and the lid of the jar I carried clanked loudly, releasing the scent of myrrh and bringing me back to the present. We were near the garden in which the tomb was located, we had to start keeping an eye out for a gardener to help us move the stone… and I also knew I had to brace myself for the smell of the body.

“Mary, look!” Salome’s horrified cry brought my eyes up from the path to look past her to the tomb. The stone, even in the dim pre-dawn light it was possible to see that the giant stone which had been rolled in front of the tomb had been moved. The tomb gaped open at us, like a mouth seeking to devour us even as it had swallowed Jesus. I swallowed a sob, muffling it with my headscarf, and spun to go and get Peter and John. Mary and Salome called after me, but I barely heard them in my panic. They had moved the body of our Lord! Somehow, I made my way back to where the disciples were staying and I burst into the room where they were mourning.

“John! Peter!” For a moment, that was all I could get out, and it gave them enough time to rush over to me, exclaiming questions about what was wrong. “They’ve taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they’ve taken Him!” I watched through lashes that had spent the past three days soaked in tears as they exchanged urgent glances and bolted towards the tomb. What else could I do but follow them? They were fast, they had girded their tunics and ran without their knees encumbered by lengths of cloth, but I managed to stay not too far behind them. John outpaced even Peter, which was not all that surprising considering John was younger. Peter and I rounded the corner to see John standing at the entrance of the tomb, stooped over and staring into it.