photo: Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem some rights reserved by Gary Bedrosian

By the time you are reading this, Easter will seem a long way behind you. However, in order to satisfy deadlines, I am writing this on Easter Monday, so the joyful celebrations of yesterday are still ringing in my ears. Allow me, therefore, to reflect a little on what has just passed.

The Gospel narrative for Easter Day leads us to the empty tomb where Mary Magdalene stands weeping. As if it wasn’t bad enough that her Lord and master had been crucified, now she suspects that the body has been stolen by people wishing to cause further harm. What other explanation could there be for the empty tomb? Although Jesus had told them on a number of occasions that though he would die, he would be raised from the dead three days later, resurrection seemed to be the least likely option as she stood there gazing into the empty space. Continue reading →