Nonsense (Bright Year: Day 6)

καὶ ἐφάνησαν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ λῆρος τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα, καὶ ἠπίστουν αὐταῖς. (Luke 24:11)

These words of theirs glittered before them like nonsense, and the disciples disbelieved them. (Hitchcock’s very unauthorized trans.)

The news of resurrection strikes many as nonsense.  It’s okay.  Still, let it shine.  Let your witness glitter.

Now for some seminary-level nonsense.  For Luke, at least, the terms “shine/appear” and “before them” always allude to resurrection. And while there isn’t another construction of φάν- and ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν in the Bible, but there is a similar theological construction that may have been lingering at the back of Luke’s mind.  When the Creator God makes the heavens and the earth, He appoints lights in the firmament to “shine upon the earth” (Gen 1:15, 17, LXX).  The stars were glimmering upon the insensate earth.  At Easter these shining ones are the women, bearing the resurrection light.

Bright Year is a series exploring how the good news of Jesus’ resurrection shines over every day of the year. Read the series introduction for more.