That's Nonsense!

            “He is not here, but He has risen.  Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”  And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.  But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. (Luke 24:6–11).

            The angels at the tomb of Jesus had some incredible news for the women who had come to attend to the crucified body of their Lord.  The tomb was empty!  Jesus had risen from the dead!  Who could believe it?  And yet, as the angels reminded them, the Lord had spoken of these things before.  When the terrified women reflected on it, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.  They rush back to share the exciting news with the apostles themselves.  Surely these leaders will be excited as well and able to help them make sense of it all.  But the reception they receive is less than enthusiastic.  In fact, as the text records, their report is viewed by the apostles as “nonsense.”

            I realize that the resurrection of Jesus is a one-off event, so I need to be careful as I draw applications from it.  But as I reflect on this text, I pause to consider my own reactions to things that seem unbelievable to me.  Have I been too quick to dismiss as “nonsense” something that needs further exploration?  Perhaps it’s an interpretation of Scripture that seems utterly foreign to me.  Maybe it’s a series of events that doesn’t fall comfortably within my own set of parameters.  In such cases, am I willing to examine the evidence fairly before uncritically filing it as nonsense?  What about you?

 

God loves you!

Mike