Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 24:1-8 (New International Version 2010)

¹ On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

This is Luke’s account of the resurrection of Jesus. The women come to the tomb. They find the stone rolled away and Jesus’ body is not in the tomb. If the (hi)story stops at this point, we can conclude that grave robbers appeared and stole the body to gain its burial spices.

Then, in verse 4, two men appear to them wearing dazzling, white, shiny clothes. The traditional explanation, one that I accept, is that these two men were angels. These angels pronounce that Jesus has risen from the dead. Note what the angels say in verse 6:

Remember how he (Jesus) told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: …

Question:

How did the angels know what Jesus had told the followers back in Galilee?

I mean, the speeches of Jesus weren’t broadcast on television or YouTube or Facebook or Twitter or even in the local newspaper. How did the angels know what Jesus had said?

Some possibilities:

• They learned in the Monday morning staff meeting
• They were with Jesus all the time, but invisible to the followers
• God the Father told the angels what Jesus had said
• Jesus, while in the tomb, told the angels what he had said
• Angels could hear everything Jesus said no matter where they were
• The angels “just knew”

No doubt with time I could think of more possibilities. No doubt I would be wrong on the vast majority of my possibilities. Perhaps one day the angels will tell me how they knew.