Easter morning arrived with blinding flashes and roiling ground for the soldiers guarding the tomb of Jesus:

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel’s appearance stunned the guards into a frozen, catatonic state. Lying on the ground in suspended animation, did the guards hear the words the angel spoke to the women who came to care for the body of Jesus?

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

Later the guards took a large bribe to lie about what happened. But I wonder how they fared as time went on? They knew what they experienced. They also heard of Jesus’s appearance after the resurrection, and surely noticed the boldness of his followers. Did any of the these guards eventually decide to follow Jesus, fully embracing the miracle they witnessed?

The first believers to grasp the reality of the resurrection were these faithful women. However, the first people to have their lives literally upended by the resurrection were those guards.

Certainly the first, but definitely not the last.

He Is Risen!

Matthew 28 in Through the Bible in 2024

Rembrandt: The Resurrection, 1639