Mary, Joanna, and I hurried along the streets of Jerusalem toward the Damascus gate, trying not to attract any unwanted attention. It was just barely sunrise on Sunday morning, the first day after the Sabbath that had followed the Passover. We could hear the priests at the Temple blowing the shofar announcing the Feast of First Fruits, the dedication of the barley harvest.
Normally we didn't wait so long before anointing a body for burial but by the time Joseph and Nicodemus had laid Him in the tomb on Thursday it was nearly sundown and the special Sabbath known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread was beginning so no more work was permitted. Then the next day was the regular Sabbath; again no work. Finally it was Sunday morning, the 3rd day since his death and we could properly cleanse the body and apply the aromatic spices whose aroma would mask the smell of decay while the body decomposed.
We'd spent the last three days hiding in fear of the Temple Guard and trying to get over the shock of His death. Maybe you can imagine the emotional roller coaster we'd been on for the last week, riding into Jerusalem with Him the previous Sunday to shouts of "Hosanna, hosanna to the Son of David … Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord!" Then that altercation at the Temple and the constant tension between Him and the officials, His betrayal and arrest, and finally His execution as a traitor! Talk about extremes. Of course, this is exactly what He told us would happen, but believe me talking about it and experiencing it were two different things.
Among all of us, I was perhaps the only one who had a grasp of what this was all about, but even I couldn't keep from glancing furtively over my shoulder to make sure no one was following, and the pain I felt at having lost Him was almost unbearable. But life goes on, and there was finally some work we could do. Maybe that would help.
We felt the earthquake as we were nearing the tomb, but nothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we got there. The huge stone that had sealed it was rolled away, and there was a man whose clothing shone like the sun sitting on it. He told us the tomb was empty, that Jesus had risen just like He said He would. We couldn't believe it! "See for yourselves," he said, "Then go and tell His disciples that He'll meet you all in the Galilee."
I was in shock! My emotional roller coaster was still going full speed and the ride wasn't over yet. I don't remember where the others went, but I wandered around in a daze till I bumped into a man I thought was the gardener. When he asked why I was crying, I stupidly asked him where he had taken the body. "Tell me where you put Him," I said, "And I'll bring Him back."
When He spoke my name, I recognized His voice and falling to my knees, I clung to Him. No one was ever going to take Him from me again if I had anything to say about it! Then I remembered that when they were mocking Him, the soldiers had pulled out His beard. That's why I didn't recognize Him.
"Don't cling to me Mary," He said. "I have not yet returned to the Father." Much later I understood Him to mean that he was on His way to the real Temple, the one in Heaven. There He would sprinkle His blood on the altar and finish His job as our High Priest, completing His atonement for our sins, just as the law required. Reluctantly I let Him go, and ran back to the Disciples like He told me to.
Of course, they didn't believe me. After all this was a man's world and I was only a woman, all emotional and such. What could I know? But Peter and John went to see for themselves and finally, finally, they got it. He had risen from the dead. He was alive. In a great rush of comprehension they finally believed in their hearts that which they previously had only considered in their minds.
The implications were staggering. He had taken upon Himself all the sins of the world for all of time as He was nailed to the cross, and had paid their enormous penalty with His life. Now He was going to stand before the throne of God the Father Almighty. God cannot tolerate the presence of sin, so if even one tiny sin among all those that ever had or ever would be committed remained, Jesus could never have escaped the tomb to stand before Him. His resurrection was absolute proof of the certainty of ours. From the first human to the last, all who accepted in faith the pardon that His death had purchased for them would be forgiven and receive eternal life. It was unbelievable!
And of course there would always be some who wouldn't believe it. Even after hearing other reports from disciples who had seen Jesus, Thomas refused to believe until he had absolute proof. He wasn't there when Jesus appeared to us that night, but a week later we were all together again and Thomas was with us. Suddenly Jesus appeared in the locked room. "Shalom alechem," He said, "Peace be with you."
Calling Thomas over, He had him put his finger into the nail prints in His hands and the wound in His side. "Stop doubting and believe," He said.
Thomas fell to his knees saying, "My Lord and my God."
"Because you have seen you believe," Jesus said. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." By this He was pronouncing a special blessing on those who would become the Church, that great body of believers who accept in faith the validity of events I witnessed first hand. In all of humanity, the church is singled out and set apart for special blessing for that reason.
Over the next 50 days before His ascension, Jesus appeared to more than 500 people, and later came back to personally prepare Paul to carry His message to the Gentiles. Through this instruction Paul came to understand the essential requirements of salvation. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved (Romans 10:9). It stands to reason. I mean if you can't believe that God would raise His own Son from the dead, how can you believe He'd do it for you?
