Easter Sunday 2021

A sermon on Mark 16:1-8 | Easter Sunday April 4, 2021 | by The Rev. Dr. Judson F. Merrell, STS |

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

³ They had been saying to one another, „Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?“

⁴ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

⁶ But he said to them, „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.

⁷ 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.“

⁸ 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. (Mar 16:1-8 NRSV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!  Easter Sunday is finally here.  Lent is behind us. The additional Lenten services and other things going on during Lent are finished.  Holy Week and its additions to our worship life are finished.  Spring break is upon us and many people are heading out on vacations that they could not take last year.  It seems as though our lives can now get back to normal….or can they?   Can life really return to a “normal”, especially when we look at life through the lens of our Savior Jesus.  As we look at this Gospel lesson this morning, I don’t think life as we know it can ever be normal again.

The resurrection account from Mark has always been one of my favorites simply because of how odd it is.  It begins with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome beginning their preparation to anoint Jesus’ body.  They buy spices and on the first day they go to Jesus’ tomb.  But they go unprepared.  “Who is going to roll away the stone for us?”  That is an odd question given that they have prepared for everything else.  Surely they would have thought of this while preparing.  Mark records their predicament though.  A predicament that is short lived because when they get to the tomb, it’s already open, and a young man greets them.  Their duty to anoint Jesus, which was a customary action following the death of someone and a normalcy in their society, is interrupted by good news from this young man.  „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.“  Once they hear those words, they know life can no longer be what they knew as normal.  The same is true for us.  Jesus’ resurrection goes against the very cycle of life.  We say that from the moment we are born we are dying.  But Jesus died and rose to live again, forever.  And as Christians that believe this, we too can no longer be confined to what the world considers “normal”, which is that we eventually die.  Sure, that part is true.  But we also believe in life everlasting with God in his kingdom.  It is the very thing we celebrate here this morning.

So knowing that life for the Christian can never be normal because of what Jesus has accomplished through his death and resurrection, how do we live in a manner that shares this good news?  Hopefully not like these three women who run away from the tomb scared, telling no one of what they heard or saw.  That final part of this Gospel has always intrigued me.  Surely they told someone, because it was written down.  If they truly had been quiet we wouldn’t have Mark’s account.  But the flip side to this being the ending of Mark’s Gospel, which in and of itself is a very odd, not so normal ending is that the Gospel story is not finished.  It is still being written, albeit not in a way that adds to the canon.  But God’s story of saving the world continues today, and we are a part of that story.  Sure, we can’t open the Bible and read about what happened yesterday, but we can find the Spirit inspired words that tell us what we have to look forward to.

Tomorrow our society will move back to normal.  Consumerism will make sure Easter candy, decorations, and such will be discounted or shelved until next year.  Families will enjoy spring break and then prepare to send their kids back to school for the remainder of the semester.  Focus will shift to Memorial Day.  But not for the church.  We celebrate this Easter Season for 7 weeks, and in truth, we celebrate Easter each Sunday as a “mini-Easter”.  That is because we celebrate not being normal.  We celebrate death to life, a journey that only our Lord has taken, and a journey that we look forward to taking when Jesus returns in all his glory to call his people to him.  Then we will have a new normal, a normal of grace, goodness, and perpetual life with God in his kingdom, forever.

In the name of the Father, and the +Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.