WHO WILL ROLL AWAY THE STONE?
Don’t underestimate the role of the Roman soldiers in the resurrection story. They were they to make sure nothing moved. They were there to assert the power of the state over the power of the people. And when the Gospel writers include them in the story as terrified, it was a defiant subtext that said: you’ve been terrifying us long enough. Now it’s your turn. The women showed up. Even though they weren’t sure any work was going to get done. Who will roll away the stone? Here is the lesson of resurrection day: God will roll away the stone. What we have to do to experience the resurrection is show up. In 12 step programs over and over people will testify (at the point where the church lost the gift of testimony AA found it.) People will testify: I didn’t want to be here tonight but I dragged myself anyway. And people in the meeting respond: good for you. You showed up. The women on resurrection day showed up. They didn’t have to roll away the stone. God did the work. There are those amo
