References: John 20

Most Easter presentations take us from Gethsemane to the trials, to the cross and death, and then the tomb. The climax comes when a powerful, blinding light knocks the guards and then the women mourners to their knees. It’s dramatic and in fact Matthew does testify to an earthquake that turned the soldiers to stone, and two angels in lightning apparel that did appear to some of the women. In the midst of all this shaking and light it’s easy to overlook the fact that Jesus appeared quietly to another woman crying alone in the Garden and to a skeptic a week later.