April 17, 2022 – Easter Sunday

Today, we heard the Lucan version of the Resurrection story, but I wanted to also read to you today the Marcan version from chapter 16:

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.

And that’s the end of the Gospel. It just ends there. Over the years, others have appended to the Gospel to get the version that probably appears in your Bible if you were to look at it. But historians tell us that this wasn’t officially the original ending.

So, we have two different versions of the Resurrection. The gospel accounts present two different perspectives on the resurrection. They don’t need to be harmonized as we often try to do with the Christmas stories. In contrast to the approach of many Christians today, the early church was comfortable with diverse witnesses to Jesus’ birth and resurrection. The differing stories are NOT a stumbling block to faith or veracity, but a reminder that resurrection is ultimately indescribable. Jesus comes to us in the most dire situations and rolls away the stone of hopelessness. The future opens, life springs forth, even if it cannot be described rationally.

Luke’s Gospel presents the readers with evidence and testimony about this miraculous discovery. We have not one, but two heavenly witnesses declaring, “He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:6). All three women who saw the empty tomb are named (Luke 24:10), perhaps for the purpose of verification. The angels point to Jesus’ prophecy about himself as more evidence. But Peter gives the final testimony. It is significant that Peter saw the linen wrappings (Luke 24:12) instead of an empty tomb. Grave robbers would have taken the body with the cloth; a resurrected Jesus would shed his wrappings. Remember, Peter’s last appearance in Luke didn’t end well… Jesus looked at Peter after the rooster crowed (Luke 22:61). After being absent at the crucifixion, Peter was desperate for another chance to see the Lord. He had to see the evidence for himself, and we see it through him.

Mark’s Gospel centers on the women. Three women come to the tomb. Perhaps against the social etiquette of the time, these women traveled with Jesus, supporting his ministry, and perhaps even ministering to women in the patriarchal culture of the time. The death of Jesus devastated them, but they – like countless mourners before and after them – came to give their beloved friend, their teacher, one last act of love as they anointed and embalmed his lifeless body. They probably felt powerless as they looked to a future without Jesus. They didn’t even know if they could give this one act of love, as they asked one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us?” To their utter astonishment, the stone was rolled away from the tomb! Angelic messengers remind them of Jesus’ prophetic words and challenge them to live boldly, letting go of death, and claiming resurrection life. They’re stunned and don’t know what to do next. Resurrection needs to sink in before they can tell the disciples.

In the Psalm, we hear that today is the day that the Lord has acted and we are told to “rejoice and be glad in it.” God has made this new day, and rejoicing is the only appropriate response. Rejoice! Death no longer controls us, and we are free to act boldly and lovingly. God is doing a new thing… divine creativity brings forth new life with every new day. God’s action creates life where death appeared to triumph. It may seem like an “idle tale” to skeptics, but to those who have experienced resurrection, this “tale” in our Gospel witnesses to life bursting forth in the face of death. This is nothing short of miraculous even to those who no longer believe in miracles or to those who see them in purely rationalistic, mythical terms. This affirmation from Psalm 118 is the heart of the Easter proclamation.

Kelly Brown Douglas wrote, “Through the resurrection, God responds to the violence of the cross – the violence of the world – in a nonviolent but forceful manner. It is important to understand that nonviolence is not the same as passivity or accommodation to violence. Rather it is a forceful response that protects the integrity of life. Violence seeks to do another harm, while nonviolence seeks to rescue others from harm. It seeks to break the very cycle of violence itself. . . . That God could defeat the unmitigated violence of the cross reveals the consummate power of the nonviolent, life-giving force that is God.”

My friends, resurrection is the ultimate antidote to death in all its faces, from bigotry and xenophobia to physical annihilation. Resurrection plays no favorites. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth as we heard earlier: “For as all died in Adam, all will be made alive in Christ” (1 Cor 15:22). “All” means “all.” Not part. Not those who are predestined. Not believers. ALL. Resurrection touches us all, providing a pathway from death to life for everyone, even those who are far off as a result of doubt, behavior, or religious tradition. As Paul says elsewhere, God will be “all in all.”

Today especially, we can open to resurrection power, and let it flow through us to all creation. Though beyond our control and untrammeled by our belief systems, we can awaken to resurrection in all the dead zones of life, trusting that God will revive us all, and trusting that we are to be agents of resurrection, bringing forth life in situations involving death in our time. Farmer-poet Wendell Berry challenges us to “practice resurrection.” We are challenged in the resurrection to turn our worlds upside down and to go beyond our habitual responses to be part of God’s “new thing.” This is challenging work but, in the challenge, we discover the Risen Christ as we speak for life in contrast to the high-control culture of death that confronts us.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!