Thanks to the women!

Matthew 28:8-15 Women tell men!

Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples. And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Rejoice!’ he said. And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.’ While they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.’ The soldiers to ok the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.

Food for thought.

Two women (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary) were the first to receive the news of the Risen Lord and to encounter him alive after death. They had been there at the Cross; they had been there when he was laid in the tomb; and now there are there to receive Jesus from death; these women were the first people to know the joy of the Resurrection. Because they were the first to encounter the risen Jesus, these women are urged to share the news. Their first duty is to share the news with men. "Go, tell my brothers!" is the first command which comes from Jesus to the man or woman that has discovered the wonder of Jesus Christ. Thanks to these women that men came to know of the news of the Risen Lord. Indeed, women can and should evangelize men.

This said, isn't it odd that it was just the women that came to the tomb that morning? Where were / are men? By an d large, even today, if it weren't for the women in the church, most churches would have to shut their doors! Thank God for these women who loved and love Jesus with all their hearts! We thank our women and their dedication. Because of you, our churches are still open.

The women are urged to rejoice. The word with which the Risen Christ meets them is "Rejoice!" The man or woman that has met the Risen Lord must live forever in the joy of his presence from which nothing can part him any more. Not even our trials can separate us from God. Our problems should lead us even closer to God because, as Charles R. Erdman once said, "All things work together for good not by inherent force, not by fate or chance, but by divine control." For that reason, at the outset of every crisis or problem, we either we’ll collapse in despair and say, “All these things are against me.”Or we’ll decide to view them through the prism of Romans 8:28 and say, “All the se things may appear to be against me, but according to God’s Word, all these things will work themselves out for my good in God’s timing and providence.”

This notwithstanding, as some women get ready to spread the good news,  some men are getting ready to spread lies. Always, we shall have people against what Christ tells us to do. Sometimes these people are church goers, like in today's gospel reading. When some of the guard came to the chief priests and told them the story of the empty tomb, these priests were desperately worried men. Was it possible that all their planning had come to nothing? So they formed a simple plan; they bribed the members of the guard to say that Jesus' disciples had come while they slept and had stolen his body.

It is interesting to note the means that the priests used in their desperate attempts to eliminate Jesus. They used calumny to incite the people.  They used illegality to try him. They used slander to charge him  to Pilate. And now they were using bribery to silence the truth about him. And they failed. *Magna est veritas et praevalebit*, ran the Roman proverb, saying great is truth and it will prevail. It is the fact of history that not all men's evil machinations can in the end stop the truth. The gospel of goodness is greater than the plots of wickedness. So, as Jesus said, Do not be afraid!