Mark 16:1-8 (MSG)
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could tend to Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, as the sun rose, they went to the tomb. They worried out loud to each other, “Who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?” Then they looked up, saw that it had been rolled back—it was a huge stone—and walked right in. They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished.
He said, “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He’s been raised up; he’s here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now—on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, exactly as he said.” They got out as fast as they could, beside themselves, their heads swimming. Stunned, they said nothing to anyone.
John 20:1-10 (MSG)
Early in the morning, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. She ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
Christ is risen, Alleluia. He is risen, indeed, Hosanna! Alleluia!
The two readings we began with today are the readings for Easter Day. There are many more stories about Easter but these two represent the very beginnings of human awareness of just what has happened overnight, but so far, Jesus himself has not put in an appearance.
In a short while, Jesus will make himself known to Mary Magdelene, then later there will be an encounter with a couple of followers on the Emmaus road, followed finally by Jesus appearing in the upper room where the terrified disciples are hiding from any identification of them as connected to the executed criminal, Jesus.
But here – right now – what we have is a supposedly dead Jesus (they buried him a couple of nights ago – they know he’s dead), a missing body, and a cluster of despairing disciples. That is pretty consistent across the gospels. But from here the additional stories come in from all directions, from all kinds of sources, often appearing in one account but not in any others.
Jesus himself makes no appearance anywhere, in this part of our story. Jesus hasn’t appeared nor has he spoken a word since the crucifixion. If we never found another word written about him after this point, what would we think? What would we believe?
I’m not asking these questions to challenge anyone’s beliefs but maybe just to nudge our understanding of what this is all about. I think it is, by and large, all too easy to look at the big-theme feast days and holidays like Easter and Christmas almost as if we are watching a movie. We know the story so well – or at least we think we do. There’s no big new revelations – but maybe there should be.
So many of us were taught from childhood that Jesus “died for our sins,” but this isn’t really part of the Easter story. It was an “explanation” added later to account for how he died. Much of the language that suggests that’s what happened came to us through Paul.
Instead, Jesus lived as we all should try to live – caring for others. He talked with people, he listened to people. He saw people – and he healed them. He healed their broken bodies and their broken souls and their broken spirits because he saw them with love – regardless of who they were...beggars, tax collectors, Roman soldiers, women forced into prostitution, those with broken minds. He wasn’t dying for our sins because he never saw our sins except as something to be healed.
He was crucified because he threatened the power structure, and even those who would eventually kill him, he tried first to reach and to heal. In a way, he died because he loved us that much. He would not stop teaching and healing and leading us even though he knew full well what the cost of this love would be.
He didn’t care about our “sins” – he cared about loving us and making us whole.
And after his death those who loved him and followed him found that they could not continue without him there to lead them, so they found him again in their shared stories and in community and in their own hearts, and he carried on – loving and teaching and healing – through us and in us and with us in each other.
Jesus lives – in each of us. He is risen and lives on in his people.
Alleluia! Amen. And Joyous Easter!
The two readings we began with today are the readings for Easter Day. There are many more stories about Easter but these two represent the very beginnings of human awareness of just what has happened overnight, but so far, Jesus himself has not put in an appearance.
In a short while, Jesus will make himself known to Mary Magdelene, then later there will be an encounter with a couple of followers on the Emmaus road, followed finally by Jesus appearing in the upper room where the terrified disciples are hiding from any identification of them as connected to the executed criminal, Jesus.
But here – right now – what we have is a supposedly dead Jesus (they buried him a couple of nights ago – they know he’s dead), a missing body, and a cluster of despairing disciples. That is pretty consistent across the gospels. But from here the additional stories come in from all directions, from all kinds of sources, often appearing in one account but not in any others.
Jesus himself makes no appearance anywhere, in this part of our story. Jesus hasn’t appeared nor has he spoken a word since the crucifixion. If we never found another word written about him after this point, what would we think? What would we believe?
I’m not asking these questions to challenge anyone’s beliefs but maybe just to nudge our understanding of what this is all about. I think it is, by and large, all too easy to look at the big-theme feast days and holidays like Easter and Christmas almost as if we are watching a movie. We know the story so well – or at least we think we do. There’s no big new revelations – but maybe there should be.
So many of us were taught from childhood that Jesus “died for our sins,” but this isn’t really part of the Easter story. It was an “explanation” added later to account for how he died. Much of the language that suggests that’s what happened came to us through Paul.
Instead, Jesus lived as we all should try to live – caring for others. He talked with people, he listened to people. He saw people – and he healed them. He healed their broken bodies and their broken souls and their broken spirits because he saw them with love – regardless of who they were...beggars, tax collectors, Roman soldiers, women forced into prostitution, those with broken minds. He wasn’t dying for our sins because he never saw our sins except as something to be healed.
He was crucified because he threatened the power structure, and even those who would eventually kill him, he tried first to reach and to heal. In a way, he died because he loved us that much. He would not stop teaching and healing and leading us even though he knew full well what the cost of this love would be.
He didn’t care about our “sins” – he cared about loving us and making us whole.
And after his death those who loved him and followed him found that they could not continue without him there to lead them, so they found him again in their shared stories and in community and in their own hearts, and he carried on – loving and teaching and healing – through us and in us and with us in each other.
Jesus lives – in each of us. He is risen and lives on in his people.
Alleluia! Amen. And Joyous Easter!
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