Easter was last week, but there’s a verse I came across today in Luke 24 that has me ready to shout from the rooftops. It’s seems like a tale as old as time. 

I encourage you to read Luke 24:1-12 for context, but the verse I want to highlight is Luke 24:11 – “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”

Women go and share what they’ve seen and experienced, and men don’t believe the women because their words seem like nonsense to them. Even though what happened was true. Even though there were prophecies about it. Even though Jesus himself had personally told them that these things were going to happen. 

The Greek word for “they would not believe” on BlueLetterBible.org is apisteō. It means “to be unbelieving, i.e. (transitively) disbelieve, or (by implication) disobey; to have no belief, disbelieve: in the news of Christ’s resurrection.”

The disciples, the apostles, the remaining eleven, had no belief in the news that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

The Greek word for “nonsense” is lēros. It’s defined as: “twaddle, i.e. an incredible story; idle talk, nonsense.”

I’ve never heard of a twaddle before, so I had to look that up. Webster’s defines it this way: “silly idle talk : drivel; something insignificant or worthless : nonsense.”

The women’s truth appeared to the apostle’s minds as false. It seemed to their judgment and opinion to be insignificant. Worthless chatter. Rubbish. Hogwash. 

Unbelievable.

So they didn’t believe.

David Guzik’s Study Guide on Blue Letter Bible offers some additional insight to this verse:

Their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them: Despite their excitement, the testimony of the women was not believed. In fact, to the apostles, it seemed as if the women told idle tales, a medical word used to describe the babbling of a fevered and insane man (according to Barclay).

i. “In the first century the testimony of women was not deemed authoritative. Luke’s inclusion of the incident serves to emphasize his high regard for women.” (Pate)

ii. “The disciples were not men poised on the brink of belief and needing only the shadow of an excuse before launching forth into a proclamation of resurrection. They were utterly skeptical.” (Morris)

One disciple got up; other accounts say two. They raced to the tomb to see for themselves. So maybe their actions spoke louder than their words. Maybe they wanted to believe, but needed a little help with their unbelief. 

At the end of the day, I believe there’s a principle here that begs to be acknowledged. Because nearly 2,000 years later, a struggle remains. Collectively, we still have not learned the lesson. Women are still not believed.