A Very Good Surprise (Mark 16:1-8)

Can you think of times in your life when you were really surprised? Like, really stunned. How did it feel? Three women arrive at Jesus’ tomb expecting one thing… only to find something they were not at all prepared to deal with. A moment that would change the trajectory of their whole lives.  Sometimes the surprise is so shocking, so earth shattering, so eternally consequential… and so good, that it’s hard to believe it. Sometimes we’ve been through so much, been disappointed so many times, that it’s hard to believe “happily ever after.”  Sometimes we look for Jesus and Jesus is not where we expect him to be. “He’s not here, he has risen.” And he’s inviting us to take him at his word, to trust, to believe, and to live the very good news.