Resurrection

Why do you believe what you believe?

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they went in, they did not find the body.  While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.  The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again."  Then they remembered his words,  and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.  But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. - Luke 24:1-11

The resurrection lies at the heart of our faith, and yet the disciples had trouble believing.

Don't you find that surprising?  They spent all that time with Jesus, listening to him explain how he must die and rise again, and when the women came to tell them it happened, they didn't believe them.

It would take a visit from Jesus himself before they would believe what the women had said.

Now that's not a reflection on the women, but on them and us.  We need more than to be told.  We need to see and experience the risen Christ for ourselves.

Paul needed to be struck down and blinded before he realized his thinking was wrong.

So, what does it take for us?

We may think we are solid in our faith, but what about when everything falls apart and we are like the apostles, alone, with the realization that everything we had believed in and hoped for is gone?  Will we be believers then?

Or do we need Christ to come to us as well?

Luckily, we have the Holy Spirit within us, helping us through the hard times, the low moments.

That is the gift God has given us, a part of Him to be with us, always.

Today's reading is a reminder of our need for reassurances.  No matter how strong we believe our faith is, we need help at times, and it is good to know God is with us all the way.

More to come...