“…you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Mark 16:6-8

“Curiosity is an antidote to despair. Despair is the spiritual disease of believing that tomorrow will simply be a repeat of today. Nothing new. The future simply an unbroken string of todays, one after another. But curiosity, curiosity disrupts despair, insisting that tomorrow will not be a repeat of today. Curiosity whispers to you, You’re just getting started …”

(Bell, Rob. Everything is Spiritual . St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

The women went to the tomb that first day of the week, the day of the resurrection, not out of curiosity but out of duty. They were puzzling over what to do about the large stone that was blocking the tomb, but everything else they were expecting to encounter was anticipated. There would be the body of Jesus, the dead Jesus. There would already be a smell for he had been dead for three days. There would be the grief, for they had lost their teacher, their friend, their loved one. But what they encounter when they arrived at the tomb left them afraid – and curious. The text says, “…terror and amazement had seized them…” It would be that curiosity that would lead them into the future. In their despair they thought all was over, but they soon learned they were just getting started.

It is our curiosity that will move us forward in our faith time and time again. If we allow despair to rule our lives, we will be defeated in all things even before we start. But if we allow our curiosity to disrupt our despair, as Rob Bell puts it, then tomorrow will bring new ideas, new understanding, new life, and new stories.

We need to learn from the early disciples who, when they were huddling in fear on that day of the resurrection, Jesus came to them and said “Peace be with you.” And then he breathed on them the Holy Spirit. It is the peace and love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that will defeat our despair and drive our curiosity to feel the presence of Jesus every day.

Pastor Dave