Luke 24:1-9 (ESV)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek 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 delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

This is the emotional climax of scripture and the words Luke uses to describe it are “perplexed” and “frightened.”

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground …

The events have exceeded their mental capacity to process what’s going on all around them. There are simply too many pieces and not enough connections.

Lots of movies are like this – confusing most of the way through, but then everything comes together at the end. Most mysteries work this way (for obvious reasons) but so do some dramas – such as “Les Miserables.”

It can be tiring to watch a movie while waiting for the dots to connect, but these women are anything but tired. One moment they are depressed, faithfully carrying out a dreadful duty. The next moment they are pure adrenaline. Suddenly the cause of their depression is snatched away. But how? By whom? The mind reels. Then the two men in dazzling apparel speak.

“Why do you seek 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 delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words,

The understanding rushes through them like a wind. Excitement jumps out of every pore. They race home with the news.

“And returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.”

At Christmas time we sing, “Joy to the World” a lot. Why only then?

Sure, we like being in Christ. Christianity is fun. It’s heartwarming. It’s rewarding. But without the infectious joy that these women had that Sunday 2000 years ago, Christianity is just another religion.

We should be bursting with joy. It’s all true!

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies