Imagine yourself part of the scene, feeling the mingled emotions of that first Easter morn: puzzlement, excitement, and fear 

Read the following account of Easter

as prayerfully as you can.

You’ve heard this story before,

but just pretend that you’re reading it for the first time,

open to the surprises of the Word of God.

Imagine yourself part of the scene,

feeling the mingled emotions of that first Easter morn:

puzzlement, excitement, and fear.

Note how stones and angels –

previously silent and absent –

almost take center stage in this story.

As you read this passage,

you may want to play this piece

of instrumental music

to help you pray over this passage.

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.

4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,

7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.

8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Sometimes a sense of disquiet is but a sign that we are not in control because God is actively moving in our lives

For the disciples, the experience of Easter was a most disquieting one.

It was surprising, frightening,

but also –and this was the emotion that endured – joyful.

The women were puzzled by the empty tomb,

its stone rolled away in time for their visit.

They were even more surprised

when an angel met them and sent them away

because Jesus was no longer there.

We have a tendency to identify disquiet with bad news:

After all, when else do we experience anxiety or at least,

a lack of peace, except in times of trouble?

But sometimes the best of news,

the most beautiful things that happen to us,

the events that make our hearts leap with joy

and our eyes fill inexplicably with tears,

cause some disquiet in our hearts.

Just remember Mary at the Annunciation;

In spite of the great news from the angel –

or perhaps precisely on account of it –

Mary, we are told, was troubled.

And this Easter morning, the women,

greeted by the angel with news of the resurrection,

rushed away afraid.

Sometimes

a sense of disquiet is but a sign

that we are not in control

because God is actively moving

in our lives.