It is the first day of the new creation. As in Genesis, there is darkness in the beginning. Jesus was buried in a garden. Think Eden. The empty tomb shocks Mary Magdalene, figure of Eve, into believing that Jesus’ body was robbed, not risen. The disciple whom Jesus loved, understood to be John himself, outruns Peter; was Peter slowed down by the depression of denial?

As the setting of a nuptial bed, John describes the arrangements of the handkerchief and the linen cloths. John sees the empty tomb as the waiting nuptial chamber, and he believes. The only disciple at the cross is rewarded as the first of many to be blessed for not seeing, yet believing.

Take the empty places in your heart and believe that it is from there that Jesus will rise.

The Reading for Today
Text     Audio