To settle the priesthood question, God has twelve dead staffs laid before the ark overnight. By morning, Aaron's has budded, blossomed, and produced almonds, dead wood, fully alive.

Hold that image as you open Mark 16, where women approach a tomb expecting death and find the stone rolled away. God has a signature move, and today you see it twice.

Aaron with his censer, standing between the living and the dead, is one of the Old Testament's clearest silhouettes of Christ, and the budded staff is its Easter: God certifying His chosen priest by making dead wood bloom. On the first day of the week, the certification went further. The Priest Himself came back, carrying almond-branch life for everyone He represents.

Do not miss the two words in the angel's message: and Peter. The man freshest off his worst failure gets named first in the resurrection announcements. That is how the risen Jesus handles His deniers, personal invitation, Galilee, restoration. Whatever died in you, and whatever you denied, He is going ahead of you. Follow the buds.