Easter Sunday - Cycle C

Luke 24:1-12

“But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.” (Luke 24:1)

Luke’s Gospel opens not with triumphant fanfare, but with quiet faithfulness: “At daybreak,” the women come to the tomb. They bring spices to anoint a body, not expecting a resurrection. Their diligence in carrying out this final act of respect towards the burial of Jesus is met with something they hadn’t expected.

Luke’s Gospel consistently highlights God’s great reversals: The lowly are lifted up, the hungry are filled, and the proud are cast down. In this passage, death is overcome by life, and mourning is transformed into awe. The tomb becomes a gateway to eternal hope. Jesus, once crucified in apparent defeat, is now alive.

And who are the first to witness this event? Women. In a time and culture where women’s testimonies were discounted, the women are placed at the heart of the resurrection narrative. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James—these faithful women who stood by Jesus at the cross now become truthful witnesses.

Through the Gospels, Jesus honored the faith, courage, and insight of women—from Mary’s fiat to Anna the prophetess, from the sinful woman who weeps at Jesus’ feet to the widow who gives her last coin. Here again, the Gospel shows how God chooses those who are often overlooked.

At first, after hearing the women give their testimony, the apostles believe it to be nonsense. But Peter, curious and perhaps stirred by hope, runs to the tomb. He sees the linen cloth and leaves amazed. The spark of faith is kindled, even in doubt.

This calls us to a faith that trusts in God’s power to reverse the irreversible. To accomplish the unimaginable. 

In our lives, too, we may encounter tomb-like places: Grief, failure, fear. But Easter proclaims that no dark place is too dark, no ending too final, for God. We are invited to walk in the footsteps of the women—faithful even in sorrow.

Let us pray for the grace to recognize Christ in the unexpected, and to know that no challenge is too great for our Lord.