Reading for Today: Mark 15:42-46 RSV updated edition.
“Then Joseph [of Arimathea] bought a linen cloth and, taking down the body,
wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb . . .” Mark 15:46a
As we contemplate the greater meaning of Easter for our lives, there is an important part of the story that is often overlooked, the time Jesus spent in the tomb. The resurrection did not occur immediately. There was a gap of time between the ending of his life on the cross and the resurrection to his new life. In that fact I think there is another important message for us as we encounter God’s resurrection of our own lives time and time again. There is a need for “tomb time” between the endings we experience and the beginning of the new period of our life that follows.
People who research how change takes place in both individual and organizational lives between an old way of doing something and the new way make note of an interim period that is a very important stage in the process. People must be allowed to grieve for the losses even as they prepare for the coming of the new. This grief can involve sadness, anger, resistance; all before acceptance can take place. We don’t know what Jesus encountered during his time in the tomb, but we do know a transformational process was taking place. But I don’t believe it is sacrilege to consider that his human nature had to go through some of the stages each of us goes through in making our transformation to a resurrected life. What we do know is that human beings need time to pause between the old and the new for quiet reflection, and to allow the grieving process to occur as we confront the major deaths we experience in life. Only then can the stone be rolled away, and we can move on. Each of us, as we face our deaths and resurrections, needs some tomb time.
Prayer: Lord, grant us the willingness to take the time to grieve so that we may move forward to the resurrections you give as a gift to us. Amen
Reflections 