Many words have been used in reference to the event that followed the death of a Galilean religious teacher more than two millennia ago. Amazing, perplexing, mysterious; these are some of the more positive expressions. On the other side there’s laughable, dubious, impossible, and even dangerous.

Landing somewhere in the middle is inexplicable. This is where all the first responders began that early spring morning at the tomb of Jesus the Messiah. The women arrived in the form of a committee, expecting to find a body. But, inexplicably, it was not there.

Their puzzlement was interrupted by the sudden arrival of two men. Their radiantly bright clothing was the first-century equivalent of a neon sign. This was a close encounter of the spiritual kind. Here be angels. Messengers of God.

The women were no fools. Anything as luminous as these two beings had to be both celestial in origin and dangerous to look upon without protection. They averted their gaze and bowed their heads. It was the prudent thing to do in the presence of any person of greater power than their own. Which for these women, was pretty much everybody outside their own homes.

The men in white didn’t exactly clear up the confusion. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Their question was either pure comedy, or just plain mean, since the women had been at the cross and watched Jesus die. It was inexplicable that Jesus could be alive.

At that moment the women were paralyzed. With a body, they knew what to do. Pour the aromatic oil. Weep. Wash oh-so-tenderly. Weep. Wrap it with linen, as if to ward off the chill of the stone. Weep. Slowly, slowly, practicing the agony of letting go of the beloved departed one.

But an empty tomb, what can you do? There’s no process: nothing to touch, arrange, cherish. Nothing for falling tears to bless.

Angels apparently do have a sense of humor. “He is not here.”  Well, yes. The tomb was yawning open, a chiseled stone chamber with no hidden corners or cabinets where a body might be stashed.

It was perhaps at this moment that the women stood upright, eyed the angels full on, and began to think differently about this strange morning. Jesus was not there. Right. Now what?

The angels didn’t keep the women in suspense. “He has risen.” Just like he told you he would. “Remember?” The women did remember. They were no fools after all.

Jesus had taught his followers many things which were challenging to understand. And he’d said some things that would only become clear to them later on. Great teaching is like that.

Without waiting for further instructions the women went to tell everyone else. The others were, however, not impressed. The women’s report was simply inexplicable. Childish chatter.

But to his credit, Peter, who had to this point spent a lot of time being dubious about things, decided to check out the women’s story. He went, he didn’t see.  The women were right. Jesus was gone. He found this inexplicable. And he at least had the grace to be amazed.

It’s worth noting that in the moment, no one claimed immediate insight or understanding. This seems to be a point that this gospel wants to impress upon us. Those first witnesses at the empty tomb, and those who came after that, were not gullible. They were sensible people, not given to wild imaginations or fantasy.

Besides. The empty tomb didn’t help Jesus’s followers save face. They were still left without their beloved teacher to help them navigate their broken lives with dignity. So if resurrection isn’t a quick fix for the complexities of daily life, what is the benefit of believing that he is risen?

Which is more or less what Paul said to the Corinthian Christians several decades later. “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied,” What is the take away here?

Perhaps it is this: the resurrection is the most interesting teaching that Jesus gave. He had said, and then taught with his own body, this lesson: do not be afraid. Let go. This is the essence of resurrection.

Do not let anxious fear define your life. Fear is easily harnessed by such destructive engines as tyranny and unrestrained power. When life seems too risky, with too many choices, absolutes offer the temporary relief of certainty. But at the cost of imagination, possibility, and hope.

Especially do not fear death. Life is a journey shared with other souls that began beyond time and space and continues evermore. We are not, any of us, beings who have a full stop called death. We are ellipses, transforming from one state into another. From glory into glory. This is one of those places where theology dances with theoretical physics.

One of the oldest images of the resurrection is the butterfly. Not just because it emerges from its wrapping utterly transformed. But also because it is iridescent, lively, and so fearlessly launches itself into the wind. And who know where it may go?

The empty tomb of Jesus, the resurrection event, should be inexplicable. Not history, or fact, but an open-ended invitation into fearless living. Who knows where you will go? Forever and ever. Amen.