Part 21 (2/2)

The women went through the door of the tomb. A young man in white clothes was sitting on one side. Seeing their amazement, the young man spoke:

”Do not be surprised. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen from the dead. Look! There is the place where he was!”

They looked, and they saw that his body was no longer there.

The young man went on, ”Go quickly, and tell this to his disciples: 'Jesus is alive.'”

The women ran out of the tomb, trembling with fright and with surprise. One of the women was Mary Magdalene. As she ran, she saw two of the disciples coming, John and Peter. She cried out to them:

”Someone has taken Jesus' body out of the tomb. We don't know where they have put it!”

John and Peter began to run toward the tomb. John ran faster, and got there first. He looked through the door, and there he saw the white cloths that Jesus' body had been wrapped in, but there was no body in them any longer. Peter caught up to John, and ran right into the tomb.

He too saw the folded cloths. John and Peter went away to their homes, not knowing what to think.

Meanwhile Mary Magdalene had come back. She stood in the garden near the tomb, weeping as though her heart would break. She turned around, and saw that a man was standing near her. He spoke to her, and said:

”Why are you crying? For whom are you looking?”

Mary thought that the man must be the gardener. Through her tears she said:

”Sir, if you have carried away the body of my Lord, tell me where you have laid him, and I will go and take him away.”

The man said softly,

”Mary!”

She looked again. She knew that voice. It was Jesus--Jesus calling her name!

She cried out,

”Master!”

She moved as though to take hold of him. Jesus spoke again. It was really he.

”Do not try to hold me here. I am going to my Father in heaven. But now go and tell that to the disciples. Tell them that I am going to my Father.”

And Mary went and told the disciples,

”I have seen the Lord!”

Afterward, no one could ever remember clearly all that happened on that day. No one knew what to make of it all. No one knew whether to believe that Jesus was really alive.

Late that afternoon, two disciples were walking along the road from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They talked of what had happened on Friday, and now on Sunday. As they were talking, a stranger joined them. The stranger said,

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