Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!

 

 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.   Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 

 

- Luke 23:56b—24:11 

 

Yesterday we read that it was about the sixth hour (noon), and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hand I commit My spirit.'" Having said this, He breathed His last.  So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"  And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done,  beat their breasts and returned.  But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.   Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.  He had not consented to their decision and deed.  He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.  That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  

 

  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.   Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath; that is, Sunday.  In the Christian tradition, this is called the Lord's Day, and it is the day of worship (Acts 20:7).  

 

 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  My study Bible comments that the stone is rolled away not to let the all-powerful Lord out, but in order to let us witness Christ's Resurrection.  

 

 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  These two men . . . in shining garments are angels.

 

 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "   My study Bible comments that, in order to dispel any doubt, the angel confirms his message by recalling Christ's own words.  In calculating the third day, the first day is Friday, the day on which Christ died before sundown.  The second is Saturday, the Sabbath on which Christ rested in the tomb.  The third day, which begins after sundown on Saturday, is the day of Resurrection, Sunday.  

 

And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.  My study Bible comments that certain patristic teachers say that Mary the mother of James was the wife of Alphaeus, and this James was one of the twelve (Luke 6:15).  But most of the Fathers hold that this is the Virgin Mary, who was in fact the stepmother of a different James, "the Lord's brother" (see Matthew 13:55; compare Mark 15:40, 47).  In some icons of the Myrrhbearing Women, and in a hymn written by St. John of Damascus, it is sung, "The angel cried to the lady full of grace, 'Rejoice, O pure Virgin:  your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb."  

 

Why are women the first to hear the word of the Resurrection?  Indeed, in this account, they are the first to preach that Christ is Risen!  In the Church, these Myrrhbearing Women are also known as Apostles to the Apostles, for they are the ones who preach the word of Resurrection -- and tell of this good news -- to the apostles who are in hiding.  And why them, then?  Why these women?  These are the ones -- including Christ's mother, the Theotokos and Virgin Mary -- who have followed Him from Galilee, and been loyal to Him and supported Him all this time.  But I have read an interesting commentary in defense of the veracity of these Gospel accounts.  That starts, ironically, from the fact that it was men (in Christ's time) who were considered worthy witnesses.  Women were not generally considered to be reliable, or believable (as we can see confirmed in the reaction of the apostles to the news).  But this tends to lend credibility to the Gospel accounts, as it follows logically that if only men were seen as trustworthy witnesses, then an invented story would have used men as their witnesses.  St. Luke's Gospel, as we have repeatedly observed, pays close attention to the women involved in Christ's ministry, for we get a humane glimpse into their essential relationships with Christ, His sympathetic nature, and the values these women contribute.   Another traditional observation is that even as  the "first sin" began with the temptation of our maternal ancestor Eve, our fallen state is overcome in Christ when women are the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection.  So let us be grateful for these women, the myrrh they bear to anoint Christ's body, God's angels who announce the good news to them, and the Gospels that give us this so very worthy story to cherish and to build our lives upon.  For God uses everything available to us to glorify even the least of these, the smallest things in our lives, and out of them to create monumental values that hold through the test of time and our faith.  We also may observe the care and especially mercy that is symbolized in the anointing of oil and myrrh, for in their love and charity, these women tell us what God's grace will repay with glorious anointing in return.  They are saints we may call upon even when dire circumstances and loss come upon us, to teach us about gracious behavior and the mercy that supersedes all authority as we practice our faith as well.  God works through human beings, God's angels, and all of creation to bring us the good news of His glory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed like idle tales, and they did not believe them

 And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

- Luke 23:56b-24:11

Yesterday we read that at Christ's crucifixion,  it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' "  Having said this, He breathed His last.  So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"  And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.  But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.  Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.  He had not consented to their decision and deed.  He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.  That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  Then they prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

 And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared.  Those who rested on the Sabbath are the women who had come with Christ from Galilee; on Friday (the Preparation) they had prepared spices and fragrant oils for anointing His body for burial, against corruption.  The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath; that is Sunday.  In Christian tradition this is called the Lord's Day, the day of worship (in Greek, Κυριακή/Kyriaki).  See Acts 20:7.

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  My study bible says that the stone is rolled away not because Christ needed to be let out, but rather so that we can witness His Resurrection.

And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  These men in shining garments are angels.  We note the similarity to the shining garments of Christ at His Transfiguration (9:28-36).

Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "  And they remembered His words.   My study bible says that in order to cast away any doubt, the angel confirms the message by recalling Christ's words to them.  In calculating the third day, the first day is Friday, the day on which Christ died before sundown.  The second is Saturday, which is the Sabbath on which He rested in the tomb.  The third day, which begins after sundown on Saturday, is the day of Resurrection, Sunday.

Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed like idle tales, and they did not believe them.   Some Church Fathers teach that Mary the mother of James was the wife of Alphaeus, and this James was one of the Twelve (6:15).   But most hold that this Mary is the Virgin Mary, who is in fact the stepmother of another James, called "the Lord's brother" (see Matthew 13:55; compare Mark 15:40, 47).

The text tells us that the apostles did not believe the women when they told of what they saw, that their words seemed like idle tales.  Once again we have to be impressed by the Gospels.  Our Book does not gloss over mistakes!  It does not gloss over poor behavior, it does not gloss over the failings of the followers of Christ.  It gives us the whole story, the real deal.  Let us remember that the angels, as reported by Luke, repeat Christ's own words to the women to affirm the Resurrection.  They say, "Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "   Seemingly everyone has forgotten this.  The women need to reminded again, and the apostles don't believe a word the women say, it all sounds too fantastical.  But at least, in the people who form the cast of characters in the Gospel and the story of the Church, we have the reality of all of us given to us.  That is, we all begin in faith from the place we know, the worldly.  There is nothing left out here.  The assumptions of the apostles and of the women going to the tomb are the same as all of us, the same as those who find faith in this story impossible, preposterous, foolishness and stumbling block (see 1 Corinthians 1:22-25).  We are there with them, they are there with us -- the Gospel takes us through this story of faith right from where we all start.  It does not gloss over the difficulties and "foolishness."  It does not constrain us to say that there is something wrong with us if our faith is not immediately perfect.  It takes us as we are -- as they are -- and leads us through the story of our faith, the story of life and Resurrection, of that which is raised from the dead and also has the power to bring life to the places where we feel we are dead, hope is lost, despair our only choice.  The Resurrection is not simply the good news of Christ as the One who lives.  It asks us to come along with Him, to a life in which our own dead ends are nothing of the sort, but may be simply a crucifixion before Resurrection.  It asks us to come along to the place where there is life, and in our own lives, to stop seeking the living among the dead.  It asks us, like the apostles and the women, to find the life He holds for us -- and to continue although our own story might feel like it's done.  This is the reality of the empty tomb, and the disciples who cannot believe the women.  We are all here in this world with its dead ends and its finalities, its certainties, only that's never really the end of the story.  He brings us life, and where we least expect it.

For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him

Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

- Luke 20:27-40

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus preached the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.   Jesus confirms that there will be a resurrection, but that the Sadducees are mistaken in their assumptions about what that means, and even the nature of eternal life.   The party of the Sadducees was a wealthy landowning aristocratic class from around Jerusalem.  After the Siege of Jerusalem this party would no longer exist.  Through this question, they reveal their assumptions about the doctrine of revelation, in which they did not believe -- that it was a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage.  Therefore they mock it with an absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus says, they are ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection.  My study bible says this makes their earthly question (and others like it) irrelevant.  In addition, they don't understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  My study bible also remarks that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who has left this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.

What is the resurrection going to be like?  I think that we can hardly imagine it, as Jesus tells us that life beyond this world entails a distinctive transfiguration, transformation, to another life of a completely different nature.  Jesus says they neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.   What that seems to indicate to me is that all relationships are changed; the very nature of "family" no longer applies.  Blood relation and connection through social contracts are not that which creates communion.  Rather, those "who are counted worthy to attain that age" (as Jesus puts it) are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  Therefore our very nature changes should we be among those who are counted worthy to attain that age.  How can we have any idea what this means?  So much of what we base relatedness or relationship upon will shift with such a tremendous change.  Surely, a life lived in an awareness of the embrace of the love of God will go a long ways to prepare us for this communion.  Christ calls us to an awareness of a type of relatedness while we yet live in this world that reflects the communion He brings to us, the awareness of how faith creates "right-relatedness" -- which is another term for righteousness.  His encouragement in yesterday's reading (above) to "render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" becomes a beginning step, a practice, an initiation and encouragement to begin to enter into the kind of life of the resurrection that He describes, in which how we relate to others, and to the world around us, is determined by this identity in faith.  It is His entire mission, somehow, and the message of the gospel He brings, to initiate us into life in this Kingdom, even as it may be lived -- within us and among us -- while we are still here in this world.  The Sadducees are clearly quite worldly-minded.  Their Scriptures were the Torah (or the Pentateuch), the first five books of what we call the Old Testament.   Therefore their faith is for the most part based purely in the Law.  Their place among the ruling council is determined through property and lineage, especially regarding the maintenance of the temple.  No wonder it is hard for them to grasp the concept of resurrection, and easy to ridicule.  But if we pay attention to Christ, we are all asked to "go there," at least to begin to understand ourselves in the sense in which we may participate in the resurrection, in this eternal life Christ teaches about.  On what do we base our identity?  How are we sons of God?   If so, what is it that we stand to inherit?  Moreover, how do our lives reflect that truth of the communion established through this Kingdom and this nature we might live out in the world?  Does it change the ways that relate to the world and to one another -- even the nature of how we treat property?  In this light, we are stewards of the created world, given to us by a gracious God in whose image and likeness we are to grow.  Therefore, questions concerning the nature of resurrection and eternal life are not that far from us, after all.  They concern our very nature, the core of identity we may wish to reconsider for ourselves, and more particularly, what we consider to be rooted in our faith and the love of God.  With so much emphasis on "family values" in our churches and in religious life of all stripes in the world, one would think that possibly better emphasis would be placed on the quality of those relationships we have -- and even just what constitutes family in a deeper sense.  If our identity is to be rooted in God who is love, then what does that say about who we truly are, and how we are related, or in communion, with one another?  Let us reconsider our own identities in light of Christ's teaching, and reorient our priorities.  Where is the devotion of our heart and soul and strength in this light, and how does that shape the basis of our point of view?  There is a lot to consider in Christ's answer, and also in the ignorance of the Sadducees who ask it.  Somehow their blindness to the end that is coming to their very identities is fitting as signal of their blindness to the eternal life of resurrection and what it means.  Let us learn for ourselves what it may mean to us, and our own blindness to what is, so that we may turn away from putting all our faith in the purely worldly.   That would include notions of family values that are only all about this world and exclude the fullness of our true nature.

Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!

 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 

- Luke 23:56b-24:11

Yesterday we read that about the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'"  Having said this, He breathed His last.  So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying,  "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"  And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.  But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.  Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.  He had not consented to their decision and deed.  He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.  That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you see the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  The two men in shining garments are angels.  The text gives us the timeline here:  On Friday (the day of Preparation, when Jesus' body was placed in the tomb) the women prepared the spices and fragrant oils.  On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment.  This day is Sunday, the first day of the week.  The calculation of the third day begins on Friday, the day on which Jesus died before sundown.  The second day is Saturday, the Sabbath on which Christ also rested in the tomb.  The third day, which begins after sundown on Saturday, is the day of Resurrection, Sunday.  In order to dispel any doubt, my study bible notes, the angel confirms his message by recalling Christ's own words for the women.

Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.   Some by tradition teach that Mary the mother of James was the wife of Alphaeus, and this James was one of the Twelve (6:15).  But most Church Fathers hold that this is the Virgin Mary.  She is, in fact, the stepmother of a different James, "the Lord's brother (see Matthew 13:55; compare Mark 15:40, 47).  My study bible tells us that the Virgin Mary appears in certain icons of the Myrrhbearing Women, and in a  hymn by St. John of Damascus, the Orthodox Church sings, "The angel cried to the lady full of grace, 'Rejoice, O pure Virgin:  your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb."

Three days in the tomb.  The angels who appear in the tomb have an announcement to the women, just as with Christ's birth, the angel made the announcement to Mary.  And here, it is the women who accept the good news, just as did Mary in Luke's first chapter, with the words, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."  It is these faithful women are first at the tomb, who first hear the word, and who first believe.  The apostles themselves are in hiding.  But it is the women who have come to care for Jesus' body.  It takes quite some courage to do so, under the circumstances in which Christ has died -- and under the watchful eyes of the authorities who already suspect that there will be some tricks played by His followers.  Always, we come back to these women and their faithfulness.  In addition to His mother, these are those women who have followed and supported His ministry from Galilee.  They have been with Him all along.  They have not deserted Him, nor have they gone into hiding. Mary Magdalene is called Apostle to the Apostles with good reason.  We have to consider these women carefully, because although their roles are not center stage such as those of the Twelve, they form the support in this story.  In Luke's 8th chapter, we're told that these women not only travel with Him, but they support this ministry -- they and many others "provided for Him through their substance"  (see Luke 8:1-3).  And we have to ask ourselves where the Church would be, and indeed, even where Christ's ministry would be, if it were not for these women and others like them.  They act on their faith.  They enact love.  They carry within themselves the light not only of His ministry, but of the grace that He brings into the world and asks us to cultivate within ourselves.  Without such faith, what would the world really understand about Christ?  If we can garner nothing more from reading Luke, we can come to understand the central and historical importance of women to this ministry.  There is first of all the woman chosen to be His mother, who accepted her role, and together with her husband Joseph protected, raised, and nurtured Christ -- a complete and total act of faith and love.  These women who are with her form a bond of love and faith as well.  Those who proclaim the word of God do indeed teach us, but then each one of us probably knows another who simply through the actions of faith and love in their lives teach us also about Christ.  Without this support, how do we come to know His love?  Let us remember from this passage that it was they who believed, and who first were told -- while the apostles dismissed their story as "idle tales."  It is the substance of love and faith that gives shape to the Church in all places, in the innermost life of experience, in what is observed and understood by others, in the witness of a life where love and faith is chosen and practiced.  Luke gives us pictures of women:  these at the tomb, Mary the mother of Jesus, the one who anoints Christ with oil, the poor widow who gives all in the temple, Anna the prophetess, the woman who is healed by her faith when she touches the hem of Christ's garment, the stories of His friends Martha and Mary, and so many others.  In Christianity, one does not need to be center stage to be counted, to be essential, to be important.  One needs to be nurtured by the love of God, so that one becomes a kind of hub -- and that love becomes reflected in the choices and encounters of daily life.  Let us remember these women, as they were the first to hear and believe, and to tell the story to the apostles themselves.