NOTES for Luk 24:1-12
On the morning of the Resurrection, the women were the first to come to the tomb. It is believed that, according to the customs of that time, women were less threatened than men by reprisals for showing sympathy to one who had been executed, and therefore they were not afraid to come to His grave. Even if that is so, let us not on that basis diminish the degree of their love and devotion to the Teacher. There is a strength that is open, immediately visible and indisputable, but there is also another strength, one that shows itself in apparent weakness. Many times the "weaker" sex has proved strong precisely in situations where this was the exact kind of strength needed, strength made perfect in weakness.
But open strength, required of a man, is not rejected either. We see Peter, who overcame his temporary denial, and again we recognize his character, his decisiveness and impulsiveness. His strength is returning to him.
Opponents of Christianity call it a religion of the weak. No, Christianity makes the weak strong and is itself a source of strength. Only this is not the kind of strength that, like a bodybuilder, shows off pumped-up muscles. The strength of faith is not noticed at once and is often not taken into account. Goliath also never imagined that he would be defeated by the modest young David, who had no heroic musculature.