<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18904">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In the midst of tending to the necessary chores, especially
the things that need to be done in the hard times, the women were met by the
unexpected experience of God’s grace. Sometimes faith means going on and tending
to the necessary chores. Prepare the spices, go to the tomb, tell the others,
even when they think it an idle tale. Be faithful in the tasks that are ours and
do the necessary tasks, for in them we, too, may be bearers of the good news of
the day: "he is not here, but has risen!" </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The New Interpreter’s Bible IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1995)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>There is an interesting discussion concerning the theology of
"The Grave Clothes" at </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_tomb">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_tomb</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Death is real, but it is not final. In Jesus, life gets the
last word. <BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=4/4/2010">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=4/4/2010</A>#</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Craig R. Koester, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Verse 4</EM>: “two men in dazzling clothes”: In Acts 1:10
(the Ascension) and 10:30 (Cornelius), Luke calls angels <EM>men</EM>. There are
also two at the Transfiguration (see 9:29-30).</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/ceasdl.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/ceasdl.shtml</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>While, in general, I don't think that Easter Sunday is a time
to chide the worshipers, with this text, it may be an appropriate time to talk
about our attitudes and actions (ritual and otherwise) concerning Christ. Do we
assume that he is dead and just go through the motions of good and right and
proper rituals, or do we assume he is alive and active in our lives, in the
world, and in our repeated rituals, e.g., liturgy and holy
communion?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke24x1.htm">http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke24x1.htm</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Brian Stoffregen<BR>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Alone among the four gospels, Luke accents
"remembering." The two men tell the women to "remember" what Jesus had
said in Galilee: "It is necessary (for) the son of man to be delivered
into the hands of sinful human beings, and to be crucified, and on the third day
to rise?" (As in Mark and Matthew, Jesus speaks of his death and
subsequent resurrection three times during his ministry.
The statement spoken by the two men is a conflation of those three
statements. See 9:22, 44, and 18:32-33.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2010/03/lectionary-blogging-easter-luke-24-112.html">http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2010/03/lectionary-blogging-easter-luke-24-112.html</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Petty, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>This lesson contains no resurrection - it is a story of an
empty tomb and of remembering what we have already been told would
happen.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.holytextures.com/2010/03/luke-24-1-12-year-c-easter-sermon.html">http://www.holytextures.com/2010/03/luke-24-1-12-year-c-easter-sermon.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>David Ewart, <A
href="http://www.holytextures.com">www.holytextures.com</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In my twenty-five years as a pastor of the church where I
currently serve, I have heard and preached many Easter sermons. Likewise, I have
watched so many persons endure the harsh realities of life. It has often been my
prayer for many that they have “an anchor that grips and holds a solid rock,”
not just for Easter Sundays filled with frocks and bonnets, but for every day.
My earnest desire is that more and more people know true
resurrection—resurrection from dreary living, resurrection from tormented
relationships, resurrection from government policies that are hostile to the
poor, resurrection, indeed.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=80">http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=80</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William D. Watley, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>So effortless is this connection between springtime and Easter
that, unless we are vigilant, we succumb to thinking that resurrection is as
natural a thing as grass coming up green, as eggs cracking open to reveal
chicks, as butterflies crawling out of cocoons. As beautiful as this coincidence
is, there is something deceptive about it too, and we need to remember that
there is nothing about resurrection that is natural.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_6_124/ai_n18791386/?tag=content;col1">http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_6_124/ai_n18791386/?tag=content;col1</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Theodore J. Wardlaw, 2007</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>