Jesus Speaks to Women: Matthew 28

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 

10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matthew 28: 8-10

I wake up fairly early in the mornings, and lately, I have started taking the dog out as soon as I come downstairs.  He's already gotten used to this, so, as soon as he sees me, he gets really jumpy and excited because he knows he is going outside. I have to tell you, it isn't as easy to keep up this routine in the winter as it is in the summer!  The dark, dark, dark mornings in this neck of the woods just make it for a rather pitiful chore.  The cloudy, wet, COLD darkness of the Western PA mornings sink my soul and make me want to run away...sigh...  

Today, as I try to do every day, though, I lifted my head up to the heavens above, only to see darkness...I walked down the driveway with Link and then back up...deep in my thoughts...I looked up one more time, and just for a faint second, I saw this huge, bright star shining like a fire on the sky.  Then, a deep cloud covered it and I couldn't see it again.  But I know I saw it!  And all I wanted to do, then, was to stand there in awe, staring, waiting for it to show up again, but it didn't...hmmm...

I don't know why today's Bible passage makes me think of that incident this morning? Perhaps it is because, like the women back by Jesus' empty tomb were up before dawn.  Or maybe it is because, as they walked in the darkness of the early morning that day, they were filled with the sorrow and hopelessness of thinking their Lord was dead.  Maybe even because I imagine that walk in the dark being as drury, damp and cold as mine this morning with the dog.  But, regardless of the darkness, light shone brighter than the sun at noon day in the desert when they encountered the Living Jesus!

Can you imagine?  Not only did these faithful women met an angel, but they run into Jesus Himself!  All of a sudden!  And He actually spoke to them:  "Greetings!"

WOW!

It is no wonder the women fell on their faces and worshiped Him.  There is no other appropriate response in a moment such as this.

The fear mixed in with the surprise and the exhilaration made up for a couple of truly discombobulated women, I imagine.  So much so, that Jesus had to offer them a few words of comfort.  As the compassionate and loving Lord that He is, Jesus said to them:  “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  

The overwhelming shock these women must have gone through was soothed by the kind words of Our Savior...but that didn't mean the women were to stay there.  There was a call to action, as well:  GO!  Go, be my messengers.  Go tell my brothers.  Go tell them to GO if they want to see me.

Meeting Jesus is always an earth-shaking, life-changing event.  And it usually involves a moment of face down on the floor or standing in awe.  But then, the call to action does not delay and it usually sounds the same:  GO!

Sigh...

I think, my encounter with the bright star this morning, in the midst of that deep darkness makes me think of this passage of Scripture, because, not unlike these women thousands of years ago, I was not expecting the light.  I'm so used to darkness as the norm, that when light appears, it's just mesmerizing.  But that's exactly when you realize that Jesus cannot be put into a predictable paradigm.  He is anything but ordinary and just when we think we have Him figured out...He surprises you like we can never imagine.  And He speaks to us in a language that we can understand...a language of not just words, but actions, visions, images and events that speak to us words of wisdom and words of life!

May we be awake for our personal encounter with the Light! May we not be so distracted by the sorrow of darkness that we miss the arrival of the Son!