Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. Luke 24:10-12 (NRSV)

Last week, at confirmation class, one of the students said BS. I responded, “What are you talking about? You must be talking about Bible Studies”. The class looked at me funny so I responded. “BS it stands for Bible Study, right.” They gave me the look like I was from another planet and responded “No”. I continued “Then you must be talking about Boy Scouts”. Again the response was “No”. So I asked them what does BS stand for. The response I got was that they couldn’t tell me because they were in church. I mention this because I am always amazed at how Bible translators domesticate the original language. A perfect case in point is the verse above. The announcement of the women that Jesus had been raised from the dead seemed like an “idle tale”. Another translation used the word nonsense. The actual Greek word has the meaning of garbage, crap, pure bull, or to state it bluntly pure BS. But this should not surprise us for there are still those today who believe the resurrection is a bunch of garbage. The prevalent idea in our modern society is that death is just a part of life. We are born, we live, we die and we return to the earth. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Any thought of life after death is pure BS. But the message of the women is not BS. It is a life changing announcement and it is the reason we gather on Easter Sunday to celebrate. Anyone who has stood at a grave site of a loved one knows the deep need for a message of hope. That message comes through Jesus’ resurrection because we can proclaim boldly that death is not the end of life. Believers will receive a new and much greater life with Jesus Christ in heaven. Death has been defeated and that is no BS. ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN!