EASTER

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: EASTER
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: April 20, 2003


TEXT: Mark 16:1-8 – “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

ISSUE: The women disciples just don’t get it. Nearly everything that Jesus has done in his ministry is the a matter of raising up those who were sick, dying, dead, blind, paralyzed. His parables often addressed the complete forgiveness and grace for the sinner, or fallen. Is it any wonder that, God would raise Jesus himself after such a ministry? The importance of Jesus’ resurrection is found in its meaning, and not in literal interpretations as to whether it happened or not. Sometimes, we too just don’t get it.
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The Gospel account of St. Mark is one of the earliest traditions and stories that hint at the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a peculiar one. Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome come to the tomb of Jesus to anoint the body for burial. Since the crucifixion had occurred so close to the Sabbath, they had to wait until the Sabbath was over. Arriving at the tomb, the find the stone, much to their surprise, already rolled away. They enter the tomb and are alarmed to see a man dressed in white linen in the tomb. The man, presumably an angel, tells the women, “He has been raised; he is not here.” The angel tells them to tell the disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. The women were seized with terror, and they run away speechless. Here the Gospel account of Mark ends without any sightings of the risen Jesus, and three terrorized speechless women.
Mark’s gospel account seems top be implying that the women just don’t get it. They cannot imagine that Jesus is risen from the dead. Let me point out something especially curios about Mark’s Gospel. When Jesus is arrested, prior to his trial and crucifixion. There is a strange account that has baffled biblical scholars for centuries. It says that (Mark 14:51) a certain young man dressed only in a linen cloth, was following Jesus. They tried to arrest him, but he ran away naked, leaving the cloth behind. The question, of course, is who was that naked man. The best interpretation that I have heard of this incident was that the man wearing only a linen cloth was an angel, the guardian angel of Jesus? Not only did the disciples abandon Jesus, but even his guardian angel. Jesus is totally vulnerable to the powers of evil. Jesus is totally vulnerable to the mocking mob, both corrupted temple and Roman authorities. Without aid and hope, Mark is making the point that he is completely abandoned, and dies on the cross beyond any shadow of a doubt. How then could he possibly be resurrected? The women at the tomb are terrorized and dumbfounded. How could this be?
The women are not the only persons over the centuries to be fearful and dumbfounded, and skeptical about the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It is hard to comprehend a resuscitation of a body after three days in a tomb. Even today people have a hard time understanding. We still just don’t get it.
One of the most important things we need to do to fully understand the resurrection is to be aware of the whole story, the full narratives of the Gospels of Jesus. Throughout the gospel narratives, from the very beginning, there are clues that enable a deeper profounder understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection. In the birth narratives, Mary, a simple peasant girl, and Joseph, an insignificant carpenter, are raised to a new special calling in their lives. Even common shepherds have their sights turned heavenward to see the Glory of God at the birth of Jesus. In so many of the healing stories surrounding Jesus people are raised up. Jesus takes up Jarius’ daughter and raises her from death. A poor widow’s son is raised up from death. A paralyzed man is told to pick up his mat and go home. Lepers are cleansed and told to go up to the Temple in Jerusalem and show themselves to the priest. They are restored and renewed to the community. John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus, and Jesus tells them: the deaf are hearing, the blind are seeing, the lame are walking. There comes from Jesus Christ a renewing restoring elevation of the human condition. A demon supposedly knocks a child down in a seizure, and Jesus raises the child up and gives her back to her father. Notice the implications here of the being raised-up and given back to their father. Isn’t that what Jesus was about, restoring a fallen, broken world, and giving it back to God the Father.
On other occasions, Jesus takes the crowds up on hillsides. There he teaches the beatitudes in which the poor, the mourning, the peacemakers, the persecuted, the disenfranchised, are all the lowly common people are lifted up and taught to see that they are the Blessed and Honorable in the eyes and sights of God. The feeding miracle of the 5,000, are all people taken up on a grassy hillside and in their hunger they are fed and nourished for the remainder of their journey. People are led up to greener pastures. Children are taken up by Jesus and blessed by him. Widowed women, who were often taken advantage of, are held in high esteem by Jesus. His teachings in these high places are teachings of higher callings. Walk the extra mile, turn the other cheek, give you garment to those in need. He describes a new kind of community that has no guile or vengeance. The Good Samaritan parable dares to tell of one who gets into the gutter and mud to raise up a dying man on the side of the road, and then offers a fortune for his care. The Prodigal Son story tells of a Father, (The Father) who takes back a scoundrel son, putting a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet, raising him up out of the pig sty. In the parable of the vineyard workers, the guys at the end of the line are called up to the front of the line to get their wages.
Jesus lives into getting down on the floor to wash his disciples feet. He is raising them up to honorable status. “I’m giving you a new commandment,” he says. “Love and serve one another as I have loved you.” Be raised up to the presence of what God is about: Love! He is always pouring himself out for the resurrection, the restoration, the raising up, the renewal of all that are fallen. “There is no greater love then that of a man who lays down his life for his friends.” Because of Christ Jesus fallen humanity is raised up through the love of God in Jesus Christ. He descends truly to the very depths of death and hell so that all may be raised and see the complete measure of God’s love, total sacrifice on the cross. Is it any wonder question that God in all of his glory would raise up Jesus from the dead? That’s the very name of the game. It’s the only possible spiritual conclusion. From the very beginning to the very end, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about the lifting up, restoration, and renewal of God’s good creation. God, in Christ Jesus, is always lovingly making new and raising-up humanity. According to John’s Gospel, Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life. Trust in him, have loyalty toward him, and you find yourselves lifted up in new hope and life.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not about resuscitation of a dead body. It is about the way of God, and how God seeks to bring a fallen creation back to God’s presence. If anything is resuscitated, it is hope not a dead body.
“Tell the disciples (the church), I will meet them in Galilee,” out on the edge of the remotest province. We will together lifted up in hope carry on this way of life. It is the way of lifting up and embracing all that is fallen and with the living Christ offer it all back to God. Don’t you get it? Fear not; don’t be alarmed: “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1-4)