Easter Morning: Jesus is on the loose.

 On the third day,

   God raised Him from the dead. (Act 10:41)

Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary joined by Salome and Mary the mother of James, return to the tomb.  Friday’s burial had been rushed and the women want to finish their work—something aesthetical that women tend to see. Things are not quite right at Jesus’ grave and the women intend to tidy things up like we might do at the grave site of a loved one.

They wonder about that heavy stone; but, when they arrived, they see that “the stone had been rolled away” (Mt 16:4). The tomb is empty. Mary Magdalene ran to tell Peter and John: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."  Peter and John run to check it out for themselves. It is true, the tomb really is empty.

What happened? The official story that circulates, as Matthew says, “to this day” (Mt 28:15), that “His disciples came by night and stole him away while the guards were asleep.” The Gospel story is that “God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen by witnesses whom God had chosen. They ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead” (Ac 10:40-41).  It turns out the Last Supper really wasn’t the last supper.

Jesus, resurrected from the grave, appears as he chooses: first to Mary Magdalene while she lingered at the tomb, and then at a dinner on the Emmaus road, and at a fish lunch with his disciples, and again at a breakfast on the shore of Galilee. With such appearances, filled with wonder and astonishment, the women along with the disciples sort it out. The tomb is empty because “He has risen from the dead” (Mt: 28:6). The Cross is vindicated—Friday turned to “Good.” Christ is alive and on the loose.