68-FiveWomen-II

And We Thought We Knew You:
Soul Journey With the Real Jesus

Five Wealthy Women II
BREATH OF GOD

2:30 AM
Sunday, about April 17, AD 30
Jerusalem, Judea

�� "Is anyone asleep?" Joanna groans between muffled sobs. [1]

�� "How can we sleep?� Our world has just been taken from us," Suzanne replies from the other side of the darkened room.� The others hear her shuffle as though she's putting on a robe. [2]

�� "How is his mother handling it all?" Mary Levi wonders aloud.� "At least I have a husband to stand by me.� I wonder how Alphaeus is doing with the men?" [3]

�� "Not very well, I'm afraid," Salome responds getting up to light a lamp.� She is saddened that her husband, Zebadee, is not alive to comfort her right now.� Yet she knows she is not as bad off as her sister.� Mary lost her Joseph less than a year ago, and now her oldest son. [4]

�� The five women stare at each other silently and share their mutual pain.� They cringe at what they see in each other's faces, knowing that every other woman is reflecting what they would look like if they had a mirror.��

�� The women have been traveling together on and off for two years helping Jesus whenever he went on speaking tours.� They are used to seeing each other with uncombed hair.� They're used to seeing each other after a late night and before they have had breakfast.� They're used to seeing each other in every mood possible.� But this.� They know they could never get used to this.�

�� Mary Magdalene has not said anything.� She cannot.� Sitting on the side of her bed, she puts her head in her hands once more and sobs aloud.� Uncontrollably.� Like a lost and desperate child.�

�� Suzanne takes some fresh tissue to her, and stays to put her arm around her.� They cry together.

�� No one knows what to say.� It's too soon.� They're still in shock.�

�� Salome gets out some clothes she washed a few days ago, then threw in a corner, and tries to smooth them out.

�� Joanna takes the matting off her bed, then stops and stares at the bare straw.� "Oh, look what I've done.� What am I supposed to sleep on now?"� She bundles the matting up in her arms and rocks them back and forth, then sits in the floor with them.� She rocks there too.� And sobs.

�� Mary Magdalene goes to her purse and counts the coins.� "His funeral was so pitiful," she half whispers.� "He needs a nice tapestry to be laid out on.� I would like to buy it for him."

�� "And more spices.� He needs more spices," Suzanne adds.� "Spikenard.� He liked spikenard.� And cinnamon.� He liked cinnamon incense too." [5]

�� "What time is it?" Mary asks. [6]

3:00 AM

�� "It's the middle of the night," Mary Magdalene responds.� "And the world has been turned upside down with hatred for the best man who ever lived."

�� "But what time is it?"

�� "Well, I don't hear any activity out in the street.� It must still be the middle of the night.� Why?"

�� "I'm going to town."

�� "I'm going with you," Suzanne adds.

�� "But no shops are open before dawn.� You know that," Joanna objects confused.

�� "I know where a tapestry merchant lives who has had a lot of family illness and could use the extra money," Mary explains.� "And if he doesn't have what we want, some of the other stores will be getting their stock out by then.� We can let them see our velvet purses while we talk and that should help them take some time for us."

�� Minutes later they are ready.� They cannot bring themselves to do any more than run a comb through their hair and put on clean but plain clothes.� It is all they could do to accomplish that much.

�� They light their torches lamps and close the door quietly so as to not disturb anyone else in the hostel.� They decide to walk so as not to disturb anyone in the stable.

�� The tapestry merchant is not sleeping well himself, so hears the women at his gate.� He waits on them, showing several samples, and they make a selection.� It is not the best, but it is tolerable.

�� "I wanted to get him better than this.� Like that seamless robe I bought him once." [7]

�� "You were lucky to get him to wear it.� You know he didn't much go in for fancy clothes."

�� They head back out to the main street.� The warm pre-dawn breeze on their faces feels good.� It is a God-send.� But in the back of their minds, they wonder why such a warm breeze at this time of night.� And the stillness.� It is much too still.

�� "Joanna, do you know where any spice shops are?"

�� "Try turning right up at the next corner.� I think I remember seeing one down there once."

�� "I don't see it."

�� Suzanne walks to the edge of the street and leans against a wall.� She is in tears again.� A half-hearted laugh escapes her lips.� "Aren't we a sight!� Five lost women out roaming Jerusalem in the middle of the night for cinnamon!"

�� They appreciate the sense of humor momentarily.� All except Mary Magdalene.� She is withdrawing.� They are worried about her.

�� A few minutes later over several streets, "I think that's one up ahead of us."

�� They detect a light in the back of the shop.

�� "Do you think we'll get mugged?"

�� "With this many crazy, bawling women?� Not a chance."

�� Only two of the women go inside.� A few minutes later they come back with one large coffer and one small bottle of spices.

�� "This is the best we could do.� We'll have to go back to the hostel to mix them."

4:00 AM

�� "Mary Magdalene, come on in with the rest of us," Suzanne calls softly at the front gate.

�� "I can't...."� The tears again.� The giant, embarrassing, take-over tears.� The tears of grief that pour out of an eternal fountain of love and loss.

�� "Oh, Mary, sweet Mary."� Salome walks over and embraces her.� "Do you want to go back to his grave?"

�� "Yes, Salome....� I need to do that.� You're such a good friend."

�� "He was too.� He was the best friend we ever had.� Oops!� Don't start crying again.� Come on."

�� Suzanne comes back out with a fresh torch.� "You'll need this."

�� "God go with you."

�� "Stay safe."

�� Mary Magdalene makes her way toward the gate of Jerusalem.� The guards are getting ready to open the gates.� She convinces them to let her out by the smaller side gate.

�� She walks out of the holy city and down the road leading off the hill of Zion.� Closer she walks to the garden of death.� She walks around the back portion of execution hill.� She is glad it is still dark.� She does not want to see the crosses.�

�� Suddenly, a rumble.� A terrible rumble.� And a roar.� She temporarily loses her balance.� What is wrong?� The bushes around her are shaking.� The palm trees.� The rocks.� She stops where she is.� When she does, she realizes the ground is still moving. [8]�

�� An earthquake.� An aftershock from Thursday's earthquake.� The one that struck the moment her Jesus died.� The act of God sent to scare mankind enough to stop their insanity.� It did not work.� God is surely back to finish the job.� God is back to destroy the whole earth. This is the end.

�� A flash across the sky.� A star falling.� Falling to destroy the earth.��

�� The flash is blinding.� Mary Magdalene shades her eyes.� As soon as it touches earth, it is gone.� Still the rocking and swaying and shuddering of the earth beneath her.

�� Frantic, she wonders what to do.� Where would she be safer?� She looks around.� It is too hard to tell anything in the pre-dawn darkness.� In her frenzy, she stumbles, falls, then struggles back to her feet.

�� She loses control again.� "Oh, my God.� What is happening?� What is happening?� Everything is going wrong?� Oh, my God.� What are you doing to us?"

�� Then, before she can find anything to hang on to beside the road, something hits the tree near her, then another and another.� She tries to get out of the way of the falling rocks.� But where can she go?� They are everywhere.� Mary Magdalene falls to the ground, clings to a bush and screams.

�� "Oh, God.� Please.� Help me.� Help me.� What is going on?� Is it your judgment?� I didn't go to his trial.� None of us did.� I could have testified.� I was a coward.� Go ahead and punish me, God.� I deserve it."

�� Now she is hanging on to a rock that is suddenly there beside her.� Still the rumbling of the ground.� The trees uprooting.� The smaller rocks pelting their victims.

�� Then the rain.� And the hail.� And the blustery wind.

�� Then the stillness.� The utter stillness.� The peaceful stillness.

�� Mary Magdalene looks futilely into haze between darkness and daylight.� Nothing.� No movement.� She realizes she has dropped her torch.� She stands to try continuing without it and spots a flicker on the other side of the rock that has sheltered her.� It is her torch.� She picks it up and blows on it.� The ember flickers, then turns into a small flame.� She can return to the city or continue going to Jesus.

�� She works her way cautiously around the bottom of the hill toward the garden.� As she completes the partial circle to the garden gate she sees ahead of her a light.� It is coming from inside the garden.

�� How can a light be that bright?� Has a star fallen?� Is that what fell to earth earlier?

�� She is undaunted.� She will face the light, whatever it is.� "Jesus, I'm coming.� I failed you before.� Never again.� Jesus, I'm coming."

�� She hears shouts.�

�� "I'm getting outa here," a man calls out.� Four soldiers run out through the gates ahead and toward her.� They pass without pausing.� She arrives at the gate in time to see two more men run past her.� They are wearing the familiar uniforms of the Temple guards.�

�� "Lady, I wouldn't go in there!"

�� That is all she hears.� Then the light disappears.� Slowly she walks through the gate, her torch now bright.� Ahead of her is the burial cave.

�� "The stone!� The stone is off!"; she cries out, stumbling into a half run.� She arrives at the cave and looks in.

�� "No!� No!� Don't take his body from us too!� Please!� Not that!� Oh, my God.� Not that.� It's all we had left of him.� Oh, my God.� Please, not his body too." [9]

�� She sits on the ground enshrouded in grief.�

�� "Get help!� I need to get help!� Maybe they haven't gotten very far yet.� Peter.� I need to find Peter.� And John."

5:00 AM

�� Mary Magdalene throws her torch down inside the cave, rushes back out the garden gate and heads around the winding road back to the city.

�� Now she is knocking on a door.� She knows where they are staying.

�� "Peter!� Peter!� Get up!� He's gone!� Peter!� John!� Get up!"

�� The door opens and two disheveled men greet her.� "Mary Magdalene, is that you?� Come on in.� What's going on?� What do you mean, he's gone?"

�� "They've taken him out of his tomb.� There's no sign of them.� What are we going to do?� Oh, Peter....� John....� This can't be happening."

�� She looks up at the two men in desperation.� Their faces reflect no answers.� Only more questions. [10]

�� "We'll meet you at the cemetery!"

�� The door closes and Mary Magdalene rushes back out the city gate and back toward the garden, knowing Peter and John will be arriving soon.� She pauses at the gate, allowing herself once more to let flow the eternal tears.� The tears that will never end.

�� She makes her way through the gate and sits on a rock outside the cave.� And weeps.� The endless weeping.� The endless tears.� The endless mourning that can and shall never be healed.

�� "Oh, Jesus.� This can't be.� Come back to us.� Jesus, I miss you so.� I can't stand it.� Please come back...."

�� She does not know what time it is when Peter and John arrive.� They both have torches and both look inside the tomb.� One goes all the way in.� They talk in low tones.� Peter sounds upset.� John smiles.� John, how can you be smiling at a time like this?�

�� "We're going back to town, Mary.� Why don't you go with us?"

�� "No, I'll stay here.� I'll be okay.� There's some light now."� She smiles faintly, for their sakes.� They leave.� She sits back down on her rock.

�� "Oh, my God.� How could you let something like this happen?� How could you let them kill him?� He said you were his father.� If you're so good, how could you let this happen to him?� Oh, God.� He trusted you.� He told us to trust you.� How can we trust you now?

�� "He's gone.� Oh, Jesus.� Come back.� Jesus.� Please.� You were too young.� Please, Jesus....� Oh, God....� How can I go on living?"� The grief descends deep down in the bottom of her throat and gets stuck there.

�� She stands and walks around.� She looks up into the sky.� There are a few stars still out.� But she sees a glimmer of red sun making it's way up to the horizon.

�� "Oh, my Jesus.� How can I face another day without you?� I miss you so.� If I could just do everything over again.� If I could just keep you from coming here.� If I could just hire a body guard for you.� If I could just....� Just....� Oh, Jesus.� I want you back.� I'm so empty.� So terribly, terribly empty.� Please, don't go off and leave me all alone...." [11]

�� She sits back down on her rock.� She is quiet.� But the quiet frightens her.� She's trying to hear Jesus' voice, the voice she knows she will never hear again.� She's trying to see into his eyes, the eyes she knows she will never see again.�

�� "Oh, Jesus...."� Her tears always taking control.� Always reminding her of her unforgettable grief.� Her unbearable grief.� Her agony.� "Why did they have to take your body too?� Why?"

�� She gets back up.� She wanders over to the empty cave.� She stands at the entrance.

�� But wait!� It looks like someone is inside.� Did they return his body?� What's going on?� Her eyes gradually adjust to the dim cave and she realizes there are two people inside.

�� "Miss, why are you crying so?" one of the men asks.� The voice is gentle.� For some reason, she is not afraid.

�� "They took my rabbi's body away," she replies.� "I have no idea where they took it." [12]

�� They do not answer.� Instead they smile.� They turn their attention away from her to something beyond her.� What do they see?� Have the other women arrived?

�� Mary Magdalene turns and sees a third man standing near her.� She is confused.� Who are all these men?� Have the guards returned?� It's so hard to see.� It's still half dark.� What's going on?

6:00 AM

�� Her tears are back.� But never are they very far away.� She just wants left alone with her grief.� Why doesn't everyone just go away and leave her alone?�

�� She puts her head in her hands and sobs.� In the midst of her sobs, she faintly hears the third man say something to her.

�� "Miss, why are you crying?� What's wrong?� Are you looking for someone?� Anyone in particular?"

� �� "Please.� Are you the ones who took him away?� Why can't you just bring his body back?� Please.� It won't do you any good.� Leave us something.� Just tell me where he is and I'll go get him myself.� Please.� Don't do this to us." [13]

�� "MARY...."

�� That voice!� It is echoing through her mind and echoing and echoing.� A millisecond at a time.� Reverberating and skipping within her heart.� That voice!� No!� Don't do this to me!� No!� It's cruel!� It's inhuman.� It's not real.� No!� No!� No....

�� But....

�� That voice....

�� No....

�� It's not that voice....

�� No....

�� Still the voice....

�� That special tone.� That inflection.� That modulation.� That uniqueness which never in a million years could be duplicated.

�� Could it be?

�� No!

�� Still echoing.� Millisecond after millisecond.� Bouncing crazily from wall to wall within her heart.� In slow motion....

�� Maybe?

�� It's impossible!

�� But....

�� What if....

�� No!

�� Stop this!

�� Stop!� Don't do this to me!� Stop!

�� Still echoing....

�� Mary Magdalene is looking more directly at the man.� She is straining in the dawn.� Straining and struggling and not knowing.

�� Tears again.

�� Tears of disbelief.

�� Her sobs are mingling with laughter against her will.

�� She is shaking her head, not knowing what else to do.

�� She is absorbing the impossible.� Slowly the impossible is sinking in.� A drop at a time, the impossible is capturing her understanding.

�� Still her sobs.� And her laughter.� And her trying to fight off both at the same time.

�� Her hands are trembling.� She is trembling all over.� She is reaching out for him.� He is letting her.� Slowly.� So he doesn't go away.� So he doesn't disappear.� So she doesn't wake up.

�� She is touching his arms.�

�� He is real....� He Is Real!� HE IS REAL!

�� IT'S HIM!� IT'S HIM!!!� IT'S REALLY, ALTOGETHER, COMPLETELY AND EVERLASTINGLY HIM!!!!!

�� "My rabbi!" she cries out.� "My holy rabbi!!!"

�� He does not move.� He smiles.

�� Still trembling, Mary slips down to the ground.� She lays her wet cheek on his feet and holds on to his ankles.

�� "Oh, Jesus.� It's you.� It really is you...."

�� Jesus bends over, takes hold of her elbows, and gently lifts her back up.� He is still smiling.

�� "You don't have to hang on to me so tightly.� I'm not going back to my father quite yet."

�� "But you were....� You were...."� She doesn't know how to say it.

�� Yes, I was dead.� I have come back to life, just as I promised I would.� I keep my promises.

�� Mary continues to stare at Jesus.� The light of the sun has reached the horizon and she can see clearer.�

�� "Mary, I need you to go see my men.� Tell them I'm going to return to my father; but now he's their father too." [14]

�� "I can't leave you, Jesus."

�� You must go and tell them.

�� His voice, that authoritative yet gentle voice, encourages her.� She must deliver the message for him.

�� Mary Magdalene looks over at the gate leading out of the cemetery, then quickly back at Jesus.� He is still there.� She walks backward to the gate.� She does not want to leave him.� She must.� It is her assignment.�

�� As she heads to the road, she smiles at the silly gardener's clothes he was wearing.� Then she remember.� He was crucified and buried with no clothes.� No wonder she hadn't recognized him!

7:00 AM

�� Just as she arrives at the main road, her four girlfriends pass her, but they do not see each other, what with all the rocks now in the way.�

�� Besides, Mary would not have noticed.� How could she?� She still has visions of her savior returned to life.� It's true!� He's alive!� He's alive!� She must hurry and tell the others.� They will be having breakfast together by now.�

�� "So, who is going to move that heavy stone for us when we get there?" asks Suzanne. [15]

�� "Oh, we forgot that.� Well, maybe all four of us can.� And maybe Mary Magdalene can help too," Suzanne responds.� "Hey, where is she?� She isn't here."

�� "Maybe she went back to join the others."

�� Joanna, Suzanne, Salome and Mary Levi set their bundles down onto the ground ~ the tapestry and spices.�

�� Salome takes a deep breath.� "Are we ready?"

�� They stare at each other, eyes still swollen from the relentless tears.� They nod yes.� Then walk through the gate of the cemetery.

�� Salome is the first to stop and stare at a place away from the cave.� As the others enter the area, they too stop, and stare.

�� The stone is not only out of the way, it is out of the entrance altogether.� And sitting on it....� Sitting on the stone door

....is a man.� No, not a man.� A being.� A bright and dazzling being.� With lightning dancing around him.

�� The women back up with an unknown fear.� They tremble.� Is God here in person?� Is he about to punish them for not pooling their funds to get Jesus a good lawyer?� They fall to their knees, still shaking.� Tears escape in torrents this time.� This time, tears of fear.

�� "Don't be so frightened, ladies!� I'm not going to hurt you."� He is smiling.� "I've come to bring you some great news!� You're looking for Jesus who was executed three days ago.� Well, he does not need the cemetery any more.� He has come back to life!"

�� The women stare and listen in disbelief.� This cannot be.

�� Salome's mind flashes in a split second to all the times her sister, Mary, told of the angels announcing to simple shepherds that God's Son had been born.�

�� History is repeating itself.� Except this time, they do not appear to shepherds.� This time they appear to women.� They aren't even religious officials or theologians.

�� The angel points to the cave.� "Go on in and see for yourself that where you saw him laid earlier is now empty." [16]

�� "Are you an angel?" Suzanne asks bravely yet meekly.

�� The man dressed in brightness smiles in affirmation.

�� The women glance quickly at the cave, then back at the angel.� He's still at the entrance and still smiling.

�� They look back over at the cave, and slowly stand up.

�� Is it true?� Could it possibly be true?� Has he actually come back to life?� In their travels with him, they had seen Jesus bring people back to life.� Has he now performed the miracle on himself?

�� Slowly they walk toward the cave.� Trembling.� Hearts pounding.� Wishing and hoping and praying.� Please God, let it be.

�� One by one, they walk through the entrance.� They stare at the empty shelf where the two priests had tenderly laid Jesus' body three days earlier and where they had joined them in a pitiful funeral dirge.�

�� Suddenly, there are two men in the little death cave with them.� They are just like the man sitting on the door outside.� One walks over and sits down at the end where Jesus' head had laid.� The other sits down at the end where Jesus' feet had laid. [17]

�� More angels?� What is going on?� They are getting closer.� They are moving in.� Trapped with them in the death cave.�

�� The women drop to their knees.�

�� "Please, don't hurt us," one of them pleads.� "We're sorry we didn't defend him more.� We'll spend the rest of our lives regretting it.� Please, don't hurt us."

�� "Don't be afraid of us, ladies.� We know who you're looking for.� But you're looking in the wrong place.� You're looking for the living among the dead.� He's come back to life!"

�� The angels grin broadly.� The women stare back at them in disbelief.� But aching to believe.

�� "Remember how he said while all of you were still up north that he would be crucified, then come back to life the third day?" [18]

�� "He's right," Mary Levi whispers.�

�� "We heard him say it," Suzanne adds.

�� "Is that what happened, sir?� Please explain," Joanna begs impatiently.

�� "Go back and tell his followers.� Especially Peter who is devouring himself with guilt..� Tell them to escape up north.� Go back to Galilee.� They won't be in danger there.� That's where he'll meet them." [19]

�� The women are crying again.� This time with tears of disbelief.� Overwhelming exhilaration.� Uncontainable elation.

�� Joanna announces it.� "He did it!� He came back to life like he said he would!� Ladies, he's back!� We've got to tell the others!"

�� She leaves the little cave of death, runs past the angel still sitting on the stone, toward the gate, and to the path around the hill.� The other three follow closely.�

�� "Wait 'till they hear!"

�� "I can't wait to see their faces!"

�� "This is unbelievable!"

�� "I feel like an angel myself!� Look at the message we're delivering!"

�� "What if they don't believe us?"

8:00 AM

�� They progress a little way past the garden gate.� But someone is blocking their path.�

�� "Not now!� We've got the best news in the world, and some guy gets in our way," Suzanne grumbles.

�� "Hey, you...."

�� What?

�� Who?

�� They stare.

�� In disbelief they stare. Just yesterday the part of his skin that had not been beaten off was blue, he was missing teeth, his eyes were swollen.

�� They cannot walk.� They cannot move.� Except for the trembling.

�� It's true!� Oh, God!� It's true!� It's true!

�� "Hello there!"�

�� He is smiling.� His body is back to normal and he is holding out him arms.�

�� They rush forward.

�� "Oh, Jesus.� It's you."

�� "Thank God, it's you."

�� "You came back just like you promised.� We should have known."

�� "Oh, Jesus, how we missed you."

�� They fall at his feet.� Then remember their betrayal.�

�� "We forsook you just like everyone else, Jesus."

�� "We're so sorry."

�� "How can you ever forgive us?"

�� "We deserve to be stricken dead."

�� Tears of love and guilt, joy and shame.

�� "You don't have to be afraid of me.� I'm not going to hurt you."

�� One by one he helps the four women back to their feet.

�� "Oh, Jesus, you came back to us."

�� "We could hardly stand it."

�� "We haven't eaten or slept since you died."

�� "How did you...."

�� "Go back to the city and tell my brothers to go back up north.� They'll be safe there.� I'll see them there.� Please, go tell them." [20]���

�� Slowly the women break away from their Lord.� Slowly they back down the road, not wanting to take their eyes off him.� They turn to begin their assignment, then look back once more.� He is gone.

�� "Did everyone see what I saw?"

�� "You bet we did!"

�� "He was real all right!"

�� "Hurry!� We've got to tell them.� We've got to tell the whole world!"

�� They break out into a run.� They leave everything behind.� The spices that will lose their aroma some day.� The tapestry that will crumble some day.� The empty grave.� The now deserted cemetery.� It is not needed any more.� The funeral is turned into a re-birth celebration.

�� "Slow down!"

�� "No, hurry!";

�� They get to the main highway into the city.�

�� "Hey, let's tell the people on the road!� Tell the world!"

�� Suddenly Suzanne heads in the wrong direction toward some travelers.

�� "Suzanne, what are you doing?"� Mary Levi is annoyed.

"We've got to spread the word."

�� "We can't."

�� "Why not?" Joanna questions.

�� "If we tell everyone, the word will get to the officials, and they'll have us all arrested for sure.� We'll jeopardize everyone's lives."

�� "You're right.� I never thought of that." [21]

�� "So, what'll we do?" Salome asks.

�� "I think it's safe to tell the men back at the house.� What do the rest of you think?"

�� "We have to tell them," Joanna asserts.� "We were told twice, once by the angel, and once by Jesus himself.� He wouldn't tell us to do anything that would bring danger to us."

�� "Okay, everyone.� Stay quiet."� The ladies head back toward the city.� They cannot keep up the pace of running so reduce themselves to a fast walk.

�� "Hurry!"�

�� The excitement is back.

�� "I can't wait to see their eyes pop out!"

�� "Salome, you're crying again."

�� "I can't help it.� I'm so happy."

9:00 AM

�� They arrive at the house where they know everyone was to meet for breakfast.� Once more in a run they rush toward the house, still shouting, "He's back!"

�� Someone opens the gate and they rush in.

�� "He's back!"

�� "Who's back?"

�� "Jesus!� He's back!� He came back alive!"

�� "What are you talking about?"

�� "We saw him ourselves!� And all the angels!"

�� "He said for everyone to go back up north and he'd meet you there where it's safe." [22]

�� "That's a disgusting way to try cheering us up.� Lay off."

�� "But we're telling you the truth!"

�� "No!� Now stop talking like you're deranged.� He's dead and gone, and we all had a part in killing him."

�� "Listen to us!� We saw him ourselves."

�� "You're sick.� Really sick."

�� "He said to go back to Galilee and he'd see you there!"

�� "We talked with him.� It's him.� We know it is."

�� "Must have been someone in disguise," Peter surmises.� "Did anyone follow you?� They're trying to arrest us all."

�� "No!� Listen!� He's alive!� Please.� He's alive.� He's back....� We saw him....� we saw him...."

�� Then the silence.� The ladies stop and look at the men in disbelief.� The men look back at them in disbelief.

�� "Hey, what's going on in here?"� It's Mary Magdalene coming in from the kitchen.� She walks over to Salome and embraces her.� The tears are back, but they are tears of relief.

�� "Did you see him, Mary?� Did you see Jesus?" she whispers.

�� "Yes.� I saw him too."

�� They embrace once more.� Mary Magdalene turns to her lady friends.

�� "I've tried to convince them.� It's no use.� They will have to see Jesus for themselves before they believe."

�� "So, are they packing to go back up north like he instructed?"

�� "No.� Because they don't believe he'll be up in Galilee either.� They simply will not believe." [23]

�� "Well, we'll have to leave it up to Jesus to prove it to them himself."

�� "Ladies, we haven't slept in three nights, we don't know which way is up, and you come in with this prank.� How about just fixing us some breakfast and leaving us alone?"

LIFE APPLICATION

1.�� We are more likely to worry at night when the world seems asleep and there is nothing to distract us.� There are several things we can do to help us through:� Count our blessings instead of sheep, write down ideas for solving the problem, read, talk to God (or even yell at him ~ he can take it; he knows you're human) about it out loud while the emotions are high.� Which one appeals to you the most?� If none, what will you try?

2.�� The women headed for the cemetery with spices, even though Joseph and Nichodemus had put 75 pounds of spices on Jesus' body three days earlier.� But they were doing something and it helped them.� Think of a tragedy that hit you that something you tried to do just so you didn't feel completely helpless.� Encourage someone else into some kind of activity who is depressed because of a similar problem.

3. Despite some women's opinion, Jesus valued women so highly he appeared to them first even before his apostles.� (The Bible does not go into when he appeared to his mother, Mary).� Do you think it may be women's more natural propensity toward religion and religious activity that caused God to insist that men take more positions of responsibility in the church?� Do you see a balance there?

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