The first witnesses to the empty tomb of Jesus were women.

All four Gospels record that women discovered the empty tomb of Jesus early on the first Easter morning. According to Jewish custom, burial spices were used to prepare a body for the tomb, but because Jesus needed to be buried quickly before the start of the Sabbath, the hurried circumstances of Friday afternoon meant the work had not been finished. Several women went to the tomb of Jesus to complete the burial preparations that had been interrupted by the Sabbath.

They were not expecting a resurrection. They were simply coming to care for a body. The Gospel of Mark records their conversation as they walked:

Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? (Mark 16:3).

When they arrived, however, they discovered something astonishing. The stone had already been rolled away, and the tomb was empty. And the angel at the tomb told them the news that would change history:

He is not here; for He is risen (Matthew 28:6).

At first glance this part of the Easter story might not seem unusual. Yet in the cultural world of the first century, this was actually quite unexpected. In Jewish and Roman society, women’s testimony was often not accepted in legal settings. Their words carried less public authority than those of men.

For that reason, if someone were inventing a story meant to persuade others, women would be an unlikely choice for the primary witnesses. Yet the Gospel writers all record the same thing: The first people to discover the empty tomb of Jesus were women.

Mary Magdalene at the tomb appears in every account of the empty tomb. Other women were present as well, depending on the Gospel writer’s perspective. These women had followed Jesus faithfully during His ministry. Some of them had even helped support His ministry and remained nearby and watched the crucifixion when many of the disciples had fled. They saw where Jesus was buried. And now they were the first to see that the tomb was empty.

It is a beautiful and often overlooked part of the story. The message of Easter was not first announced to powerful leaders or public figures. It was given to ordinary followers who had come simply to care for their teacher.

And those women were then entrusted with an important task. They were told to go tell the disciples. Matthew records the moment clearly:

Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead (Matthew 28:7).

In other words, the first witnesses of the resurrection were also the first messengers of the news. This detail reminds us of something important about the Easter story:

God often works through people the world overlooks.

The first witnesses were not chosen because of status or authority. They were simply faithful followers who showed up when others did not. Because they came to the tomb that morning, they became the first to hear the words that would echo through history:

He is risen.

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I think a lot of us wear new clothes at Easter or at least have fun dressing up our kids or grandkids in brand new Easter outfits. But have you wondered why we wear new clothes for Easter? It is a long-standing tradition that goes clear back to the early Christians. It is believed that people wore white linen to identify with the resurrection of Christ. It’s easy to see how it can symbolize purity and the leaving behind of the dark, sinful past, looking ahead to a heavenly future made possible through Christ’s death and resurrection where our sins are washed “white as snow.”

In the early years of the fourth century, Emperor Constantine was responsible for setting a fixed date for the celebration of Easter. Before that, the dating of Easter was disputed and observed at different times of the year throughout the Roman world. Easter was an important holiday to Constantine, and he believed that such a sacred day should not be a cause of division but should be celebrated by all at the same time. Furthermore, Constantine is said to have required his court to wear all new clothes on Easter, and over time, wearing new clothes on Easter came to symbolize, for all Christians, the newness of life given to us by Christ.

Sometimes, the meaning may get lost in the pageantry. Irving Berlin’s famous “Easter Parade” song was inspired by churchgoers in New York City after the Civil War. People in their Sunday best would all leave the many churches that lined 5^th Avenue and walk down the street to dine, visit others, or just go for a stroll. This stroll was especially popular on Easter Sunday when dressmakers would actually sit on the street to sketch the latest fashions and reproduce them for stores soon after.

While those people most likely had forgotten the meaning behind new coats and dresses, I found it sad to read that the interest in the Easter Parade has died not because of an awareness of consumerism and pride, but because of a lack of interest in religion at all. So don’t let clothes, new or not, keep you from joining with others to celebrate the most important day of the year. New clothes can express our joy on Easter Sunday, but a new heart proclaims it every day of the year.

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What Is Lent?

At its simplest, Lent is a forty-day period that usually ends sometime during the week preceding Easter. It is meant to commemorate the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, so some Lenten traditions do include self-sacrifice and special acts of charity during this time. Most involve confession and repentance. But for all religious traditions, Lent is a time to prepare for Easter, a time to actively prepare ourselves through Scripture, prayer, and repentance. We know there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor and His love, but I think the very idea that we can do nothing, that it was all the work of God, sometimes causes us to take it all for granted.

Because we were, through God’s grace, crucified and buried with Christ – with no pain and suffering on our part – it seems easy. And it is:

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

Acts 16:31

But if we don’t remember what that gift cost, we can also forget its value. We perhaps forget what sinners we were, how desperate our need was, and how great a sacrifice Jesus made for us, not just in His death, but in His very life here on earth.

But the other part of the story, the reason why Lent has an end, is because we were not only crucified and buried with Jesus, forgiven and made righteous, but we were also resurrected with Him into eternal life.

I Can

Attending this new church forced me to think about Lent. Whatever it was in my mind before or maybe what it is for others, it did not have to be for me. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the most important events in the history of the world. Believers, hopefully, are always mindful of this, but it is not wrong to spend a little extra time focusing on Jesus, the cross, His love and sacrifice for us that allows us to experience the amazing unearned and unending joy of Easter morning.

By the time you read this, Lent this year will have already begun, but the number of days doesn’t matter. Use whatever time you can to reflect on what a selfless gift Jesus gave us. The reflection, meditation, and prayer of the days of Lent can lead us to appreciate and value even more Christ’s sacrificial death for us.

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