Discipling Life

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb… Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbouni!' (which means Teacher). (John 20:1–18, NRSVue) Easter morning always begins in the dark. The sky is quiet, the world still wrapped in shadow. Mary Magdalene steps into that darkness carrying grief. The one who had changed her life is gone, and all she can do is come to the place where his body had been laid. It is love that brings her there. It is a love strong enough to face sorrow head-on. But what she finds is not what she expects. The stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. Confusion and fear give way to astonishment as the risen Christ speaks her name, “Mary!” When she hears it everything changes. Light breaks into darkness, despair turns to hope, and death itself loses its power. This is the miracle at the heart of our faith: God r...

Sometimes the most powerful acts of faith happen quietly, away from the crowds. They don’t come with fanfare or applause. They come in moments of risk, when love outweighs fear, and grace nudges someone to step forward. That’s what we see in Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. After Jesus died, Matthew tells us that “there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57). He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. John’s Gospel adds that Nicodemus came too, bringing “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds” (John 19:39). Together, they wrapped Jesus’ body and laid him in a tomb. These two men had been quiet followers. Joseph was a member of the council. Nicodemus had come to Jesus by night. They had influence, wealth, and status. But in this moment, they risked it all to honor Christ. Their actions were not loud, but they were full of love. They didn’t preach a sermon or perform a miracle. They simply showed up w...