This is the first story in Luke’s Gospel after Jesus has risen from the dead. In this portion of God’s Word, the women that followed Jesus have come with the spices that they have prepared for Jesus‘ body. It is evident that they did not realize that Jesus had risen from the grave. They probably felt as though their entire world had fallen apart; their expectations of what would happen did not come true. The man they thought was their savior, had died. By taking a close look at this story, we see what we are to do when we feel like our world has fallen apart and when we have unmet expectations:

1. Grieve

Luke 23:55-24:1, Matt.5:4, Ecc. 3:1-14, John 11:35, Ps. 34:18, 119:50, 147:3, Rev. 21:4, 2 Cor. 1:3-4, 7:10, 1 Thess. 4:13-14

2. Hold unto God’s promises

Luke 24:2-7, John 3:16, 1 John 1:9, 1 Cor. 10:13, Deut. 7:9, Rom. 8:28

3. Go and do God’s will

Luke 24:8-12, 1 Pet. 2:15, James 1:22, Rom. 12:1-2, 1 John 2:17

Reflection Questions:

1. The women in this story would have been dealing with unmet expectations. Think about your typical ways of dealing with unmet expectations. Give yourself a rating from 1-10 on how well you typically deal with unmet expectations. Why did you give yourself that rating?

2. Luke 23:55-24:1. These women were grieving the best way knew how. How well do you grieve? Do you struggle with grieving? Why or why not?

3. Read Luke 24:2-7. The angels reminded the women of Jesus’ promise, that He would rise from the dead after 3 days. When we are grieving, or have unmet expectations, we too can benefit greatly from holding unto God’s promises. How can you, the next time you are grieving or have unmet expectations, remind yourself of God’s promises?

4. Read Luke 24:8-12. The women, after hearing that Jesus had risen from the grave, didn’t keep to themselves. Instead, they went off and told the other disciples what had happened. In doing so, they accomplished God’s will for them. Many times, grief can keep us paralyzed. How can you, the next time you are grieving or have unmet expectations, go and do God’s will, instead of remaining paralyzed by grief?

5. What is your biggest take away about how this passage affects your life? What do you need to work on? Who can you share this with and ask you to keep you accountable to accomplishing this?