Resurrection of Our Lord 2021

Resurrection of Our Lord (Revised Common Lectionary) | 04.04.21 | Mark 16.1-8 | Carl A. Voges |

The Passage

“When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they may go and anoint him.  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.  And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’”

“And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back – it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.  And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; he is not here.  See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.  There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

“And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”  [English Standard Version]

“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; he was buried; and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”             [1 Corinthians 5.3f.]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

There is no question – today is the most significant and overwhelming Day of the year!

The Day started building this past Thursday when the Lord God unveiled his Supper for the lives of his baptized people.  It continued Friday when we were drawn into the agonies of the Lord’s crucifixion.  Last evening we were brought to the edge of this Day as the Lord created and flooded this world, as the Lord freed his people from bondage, as the Lord promised to draw his people into his presence, as the Lord calls us to repentance while plunging into the world’s suffering.  There is no question – today is the most significant and overwhelming Day of the year!

People whose spirits have been flattened, people whose hearts have been burdened, people whose minds have been clouded – such people now rise up with grace, confidence and warmth that is unique to persons who are broken down and restored by the Lord God.

This Day got underway with its participants having no idea of what was about to be unleashed.  Even though spices weighing nearly a hundred pounds had been packed around our Lord’s body on Friday afternoon, it was still necessary to replenish those spices to offset the body’s decay.  Early on Sunday morning, then, three of Jesus’ friends (the two Marys’ and Salome) set out to take care of that detail.  As they make their way to the tomb, their primary concern is the rolling away of the tomb’s stone.  But when they get there, the stone has already been rolled back!

They enter the tomb and see a young man in white robes seated to the right side of the tomb.  They are struck with alarm (their expectations are being crossed!).  The man tells them there is no need for alarm.  He recognizes they are looking for the Jesus who was crucified, but states that Jesus is not here.  He goes on to say that Jesus has risen, showing them the empty place where his body had been laid.  The young man tells the women to go and inform the disciples that Jesus is heading before them to Galilee.  It is in that place where everyone will see him, just as he had promised he would.  Mark reports that the women come out and run away from the tomb.  They are seized by trembling and astonishment; further, because they are afraid, they say nothing to anyone!

Mark’s account of the resurrection startles us with this shocking ending – they said nothing to anyone!  It is obvious that the non-speaking did not last long, but there are two primary things to notice in this account: First, the empty tomb; Second, the region of Galilee.

First, the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection takes place inside the tomb.  His victory is made known in the place of death.  As the account of Jesus’ death unfolded in Mark’s Gospel, we saw that Jesus was too weak to carry his own cross.  We also heard the desolation of Jesus’ cry from the cross to his Father.  But it is here, in the place of death, where the women find out that Jesus has been raised!

Earlier in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom had often been a secret one.   Recall how Jesus would tell people not to say anything when the power of his Life impacted their lives.  Remember, too, how Jesus described the presence of his Life in the world like a seed: the seed is buried in dark soil; the seed is enclosed by its outside covering like a tomb; the seed is cracked open by a mysterious life and power.  Such descriptions show why an egg is a symbol of the Lord’s resurrection – the shell appears to close everything in, snuffing out life, but the Lord’s Life is stirring inside and pushes out through the shell, cracking it apart as that Life emerges.  On Good Friday we descended into the numbing earthquake of Jesus’ crucifixion, but this morning we are brought into his tomb to see the full meaning and impact of that death.

Second, there is the young man sending Jesus’ followers to Galilee.  This is the area, the place where the proclamation of the Gospel got underway, the place where Jesus’ words and deeds started to knock down the powers of sin, Satan and death, the place where Jesus’ ministry was carried out.  Jesus, who had been able to hit at Satan in the course of that ministry, was hit by Satan on Good Friday and apparently defeated.  But now the tomb is empty, signaling that Satan is the one destroyed and Jesus, apparently the defeated One, is the One triumphant, permanently!

It is this victorious Jesus who is waiting for his followers in Galilee.  Galilee is that world where all people are born, live and die.  Galilee is that world where lives are mistakenly centered on themselves, where its gods are attractive, demanding and false, where the suffering is relentless and unbearable.  Because of the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection though, we, his baptismally marked daughters and sons, can stride into that world with the reality of his stunning and dominating Life!

That striding is possible because the Lord has been over-hauling the lives of his parish communities ever since the Church began to emerge in this world.  For the past year, especially under the pall of the virus, we have noticed that such over-hauling always occurs when people are brought into the presence of the Lord’s Baptism and Scriptures, the Lord’s Forgiveness and Eucharist.  At first, this over-hauling is shocking and mysterious.  But later we begin to understand that it is from those four holy places where the Lord God breaks down the life given us by the world and restores us to the Life given us by him at our Baptisms.

This breaking down is not easily done.  We get thrown into intense, long and unsettling conversations with one another.  Conversations deal with the concern, alarm, trembling, astonishment and fear in our lives.  The conversations, however, because they are framed by the Lord’s holy places, reveal how the Lord’s breaking and restoring occurs in our lives.

It is because of what the Lord God has done in the crucifixion and resurrection of his Son that this Day is the most significant and overwhelming Day of the year!  Understood this way, it is not strange that the two Marys’ and Salome, at first, say notthing to anyone.  We, who know what it is like to be caught in the grip of sin, Satan and death, but who then are rescued, have our mouths shut as well.  The Lord’s rescue crosses our expectations so much that we don’t know what to say.  But then the thanksgivings begin to emerge and we gratefully point to the Lord God who pushed into our lives so we could be marked, permanently, as his sons and daughters.

This is the Lord God who is continually running his four holy places into the lives of his parish communities so the lives of his people can be continually over-hauled.  When the Lord works our lives over, two realities strike us – first, we are sinners; second, we are rescued sinners!  When the Lord God over-hauls the lives of his people, he is freeing them to reflect his Life to the afflicted and suffering people of this world.  This Day is the most significant and overwhelming Day of the year because the Son’s crucifixion and resurrection is cutting across the lives of people who are centered in themselves and confused, who are surrounded by the gods of their making and are trapped.  Now their lives have been brought into the Life of the Holy Trinity and they are freed!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our

hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

—

Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com