First, the tomb must be opened. Which feels frighteningly foolish. The risk factor is about as high as it gets. No one wants to smell death. Sure, one can hope that a resurrection miracle may also dissipate the stench, but maybe not. The whole thing is a potentially unpleasant process.
Then, the dead person must hear—and accept—the invitation to come alive and walk out of the tomb. Quite often, whether out of self-pity, or cynicism, or stubbornness, or whatever, that invitation is turned down. Sometimes the dead just prefer to stay dead. Sometimes they may need a little encouragement, and others may need a little patience.
Then, others must help to redress the resurrected person. To take off the grave clothes and get them dressed for the new day. To help them re-enter the world with dignity and belonging—fresh and clean, ready to get back to work and to cook dinner and to play with children and to pay bills and to worship and to visit friends and to do all the other ordinary things that living people do. Only now, to do them in a whole new way, from a whole new perspective, as a whole new person.
