Easter C (Luke 24:1-12)

In the gospel lesson on this Easter Day, the women at the empty tomb are confronted with a profound lesson in perception and remembrance. As they seek the body of Jesus in the tomb, they are met by two messengers who challenge their understanding: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." This question serves as the first lesson—where one looks determines what one finds. The women were searching for Jesus in the wrong place, not because they were misguided, but because they had not yet grasped the reality of resurrection. If Jesus were dead, then the tomb would be the logical place to find him. But if he was alive, then he must be sought elsewhere. This lesson challenges us to examine where we search for connection, hope, purpose, and meaning in life. Are we looking under the lamp where we can see, or where what we seek truly is?
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The second lesson follows naturally from the first. The angels not only correct the women’s search but also direct them to where the risen Christ can be found: "Remember how he told you…" It is significant that they do not say, "Remember what he told you," but rather, "how he told you." This distinction draws our attention not only to the content of Jesus’ message but to the manner in which he spoke it. The content is clear: "The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Yet the angels call the women to recall not only these words but the breath with which they were spoken.

Plato once said, "What you teach is not as important as how you teach it." Jesus did not merely impart knowledge; he communicated life itself. His breath, his very way of speaking, carried the essence of his teaching. To grasp this point fully, we must consider two pivotal moments in the Gospel narrative: Jesus’ final breath on the cross and his first breath as the risen Christ. In Luke 23, at the moment of his death, Jesus cries out, "Father, into your hands, I commit my breath." This is not merely an exhalation of life but his practice of committing his breath to the Breath of God within. Then, in John 20, when the risen Christ appears to his disciples, he breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit"—or, put another way, "Receive the Breath of God."

Here we see that the breath Jesus entrusted to the Father at his death is returned as the breath of resurrection. The "how" of Jesus’ message is revealed in this breath—a breath that carries the words of resurrection and transforms those who receive it. The women at the tomb are invited into this living breath, as are all who hear the Easter proclamation. This breath is not confined to the past but is carried forward, blown across generations, sustaining the breath of Easter in every time and place.

Thus, the resurrection is not merely an event to be remembered but a reality to be breathed in. The message of the angels calls us to seek the risen Christ not in the tombs of our assumptions but in the living breath of his presence through our own breath. It invites us to inhale the breath of resurrection and exhale it into the world, carrying forth the breath that still speaks life today. The question remains: where are we looking for the living, and how are we breathing in the spirit of resurrection?

On this Easter Day, I share the beautiful poem by Malcolm Guite titled “God’s breath in man returning to his birth”:

Breathe in and in that breathing be created,
Wake from the dust, be conscious, and inhale,
Fresh from the Word and Light of God, delighted,
You find you have become a living soul.
But soon you must breathe out. What’s to be done?
Who will be with you then? And will you dare
To trust the breath of life back to the one
Who breathed it into you? Christ comes to share
Your letting go; you hear him sigh and say
Father into your hands receive my spirit
And find that he has opened up the way
For you as well. He takes your breath to bear it
Deep into heaven with him in his death,
That you might be reborn with every breath.