that within moments Caiaphas or Pilate will send soldiers to arrest them.
The morning of the third day after Jesus' death, Mary Magdalene takes it upon herself to go visit the tomb. She misses Jesus enormously, and even the prospect of sitting outside his burial site is a source of comfort. Her eyes are tired as she ascends a small hill. She knows that even in the early morning fog, she will be able to see the tomb from the top, and
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she begins looking once she gets there. The entrance to the tomb stands open. The rock has been moved aside. She gasps. Someone has stolen Jesus' body. Mary fearfully takes a step toward the open tomb, but she doesn't dare enter.
Perhaps grave robbers are still inside, prepared to beat her for interrupting their labors. Then, an unrecognizable, distant figure standing on the ridgeline catches her eye. "Teacher?" Mary asks in a small and terrified voice. For a moment, Mary thinks she sees Jesus alive. But she can't be sure. Soon the figure disappears from sight. The fact remains that the tomb is open and the body isn't there.
Where is Jesus?
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PART TEN
NEW WORLD
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Mary weeps at the empty tomb and then, still sobbing, takes a deep breath and conquers her fears. It's pitch-black, but her eyes soon adjust. She sees the slab where Jesus' body was laid. The linens that were bound tightly around his body now lie in a pile. Mary smells the sweet perfume that was poured onto Jesus' corpse to minimize the smell of decay.
"Why are you crying?" says a man's voice at the tomb's opening. "Who are you looking for?"
Mary can't see who's talking. Terrified, she finds the courage to call out from the darkness: "If you've taken him, tell me where he is."
"Mary."
It is the calm and knowing voice she knows all too well. Mary's heart soars as she realizes who is talking to her. "Jesus!" Her eyes swim with tears of joy and amazement as she steps out into the sunlight.
"Go and tell our brothers I am here."
Mary stares at Jesus in awe. She can see the marks on his hands where the spikes pierced his flesh. A quick glance at his feet reveals the same. There is an aura about Jesus, something far more heavenly than anything she has experienced in all their many days together. It is as if she is looking at two sides of the same being: God and man. Then he is gone. Mary, overcome with joy, sprints back into Jerusalem to tell the disciples the good news.
The disciples have been terrified since Jesus' execution that the religious authorities and Romans are working in unison to end all traces of Jesus'
ministry--and that means snuffing out his disciples as well. They are 310
hiding, fearful of that knock on the door in the dead of night telling them that they've been discovered.
Peter glances out a window. He is a shell of the man he once was, and no one would confuse him for the gruff fisherman Jesus recruited three years
ago. Roman soldiers march up a nearby alley, breastplates and swords glistening in the early morning sun.
There is no knock at the door. Instead, a clearly delusional Mary Magdalene bursts inside, screaming at the top of her lungs, "I've seen him! I've seen him!"
"Close the door," barks John.
Mary slams it shut. "The tomb is open," she gasps. "He's gone."
"He's dead and buried," says a morose Peter. "That's impossible."
"You have to believe me. I saw him!"
"I think you were at the wrong tomb," mutters Thomas. "It must have been someone else."
"You don't think I know what Jesus looks like? Do you think I'm mad?"
"It's been a stressful time, Mary. For all of us."
This infuriates her. She grips Peter's wrist hard and pulls him to the door.
"Come with me. Now."
Peter looks to John. Then at the other disciples. It wouldn't be safe for all of them to venture out, but perhaps maybe just two of them.
Peter nods. Mary leads John and Peter out into the sunshine.
They stare in shock and disbelief at them empty tomb. Peering sheepishly inside from a few feet back, they can't see footprints or any other sign that tomb robbers have been here, but they know that's the obvious answer.
"Thieves," says Peter.
"That's right: tomb robbers," adds John.
Peter steps closer to the opening. A white circle of light suddenly shines inside. Peter moves toward the light and sees the unmistakable
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Jesus. "My Lord," he says in a hushed voice. Peter reaches forth to touch