Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10
Key Verse: “He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:6, NRSV)
Reflection:
The women come to the tomb because that is where grief tells them to go. Death creates a kind of gravity. It pulls us back to what has been lost, to what feels final, to what we assume cannot change. They are not coming with expectation; they are coming with memory. They know where Jesus was placed. They know what happened. They are returning because death has a logic, and they are still inside it.
But the resurrection interrupts that logic. The angel does not simply announce that Jesus is alive; the angel redirects their attention. “He is not here.” The place they were certain would hold him cannot contain him. The women are invited to see that the place of death is no longer the place where God is to be found. The story does not continue where it ended. It has already moved ahead.
We are practiced at returning to the tomb. Churches often become places where we revisit what used to be alive—holding onto familiar forms, protecting memories, organizing ourselves around what once worked. We preserve language, structures, and assumptions that were meaningful in another moment, assuming that faithfulness looks like staying close to what we have known. We build ministries around maintenance instead of movement.
The resurrection refuses that pattern. It does not meet us in the preservation of the past. It meets us in the courage to move toward where life is unfolding now. The women are told to go—to leave the tomb behind and step into a future they do not yet understand.
Where are we still returning to places that cannot hold life anymore? Where have we confused familiarity with faithfulness? The tomb is not where the story continues — and it is not where we are meant to stay.
Application:
Go to a place in your daily life where you usually operate on autopilot (workplace, home routine, or community space). Intentionally disrupt your pattern and initiate one unexpected act of presence (a real conversation, an offer of help, or a moment of attention you would normally avoid).
Writing Prompt:
What have I organized my life around that I would struggle to release? What does that resistance tell me about where I actually place my trust?
Prayer:
God of resurrection, pull me out of the places I return to out of fear or habit. Give me the courage to move toward where you are alive and at work. Amen.