Are you a lark or an owl when it comes to times of rising and going to bed – or somewhere in between the two?
I’ve never been a lover of early mornings. I was fortunate that, when I was working, my job did not require early mornings, just a 9am office start. I was very glad when my children grew old enough to stop waking at 6am too!
On Easter Day there are usually some sunrise services happening in the locality but I have not joined them, preferring to get some much needed sleep before a busy day of cooking, Easter egg hunts etc and I have attended a church service mid morning.
There was one exception to this. In 1997 I was in Israel with my family and we were invited to join a sunrise service by the shores of Lake Galilee by the leader of our group. Getting out of bed at 5am and walking down to the Lake carrying a chair and a blanket i really wondered why I had agreed to go, but seeing the sun rise over the Golan Heights, as we sat singing Easter hymns and hearing the story of the first Easter Sunday morning in that location was something I will never forget, and I accepted that it is sometimes the early risers who receive a special blessing.
In the gospel accounts the women who are friends of Jesus go to the tomb very early arriving at sunrise. They may not have been in the habit of rising early but they felt an urgent need to perform the embalming of their Lord, after Joseph had wrapped his body in linen and buried him late on Friday. No further tasks could be completed on the Sabbath Day. These women were brave to go to the tomb, which Joseph of Arimethea had sealed and where the priests had placed guards. They thought they would face 2 difficulties.
How could they, a group of not particularly strong women, roll away a large stone that had been sealed at the entrance to the tomb?
And how could they persuade the guards to let them in, given that the guards had been placed there to make sure Jesus’ body would not be stolen?
Was this rather a hopeless plan, not well thought through, and fraught with risk and danger?
Yet to these women was given the greatest honour we can conceive, to become the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.
” Trembling, bewildered yet filled with joy” they headed straight to the disciples to share and digest the momentous news which the angels had told them. We don’t know what they did with the perfumes and spices, which were no longer needed, but it was an early start to the day that they must certainly have been glad they had made and would never forget.
A Prayer: Lord Jesus. The gospel accounts of your resurrection are so thrilling and uplifting, containing such human details of the reactions of your followers. We thank you for your great love for us, meaning you came back from the grave to assure us of your promise of eternal life. May we be bold to share this message, as those first women disciples did on Easter morning .