"You Will See Him"

It was still dark when they set out. Three women, draped in grief, walking quietly, somberly, sadly to the tomb of their teacher and friend, to the tomb of Jesus.

The last three days have been the most difficult of their lives. They were disbelieving when they heard the news that Jesus had been arrested, had watched in despair from afar as he hung dying on the cross, had quietly followed Joseph of Arimathea as he took Jesus’ lifeless body and placed it in a tomb.

There had been nothing they could do to stop his death. But at least now they can give his body a proper burial. This was their duty, as it has been for women throughout most of human history.

They carry with them spices and oils with which to anoint him, to give him in death the respect and dignity he was denied by those who killed him.

As the sky lightens and they draw near the cave where Jesus’ body has been laid, they wonder how they will be able to get into it. They had watched as Joseph had rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb on Friday.

“Who will roll the stone away for us?” they asked one another as they approached the place where Jesus was buried.

But when they arrive, the question becomes moot. The stone had already been rolled back.

Who did that? Cautiously they creep into the tomb and cry out in fear when a young man greets them.

“Don’t be alarmed,” the man says. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.

“But go, tell his disciples that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

Upon hearing this news, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome turn around and flee “for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

And that is how the original Easter story ends in Mark’s gospel. Not with joy and alleluias, not with shouts of victory, but with terror and fear.

It seems an abrupt and unsettling ending on this day that we all gather to celebrate the resurrection. Apparently early church leaders thought so, too, because within a few years after Mark’s gospel was written, an additional ending was tacked on with reports of the resurrected Jesus.

Many in today’s church remain unsettled by a gospel that ends in fear. The lectionary for today lists John’s account of Easter morning as an optional reading, even though we have been reading from Mark’s gospel all through Lent and Holy Week.

At a clergy gathering earlier this week every priest I talked to said they were going with John today.

“You know, Mark just doesn’t seem that Eastery,” one friend said.

But the women’s reaction that first Easter morning makes perfect sense to me. They come to the tomb in grief to perform the rituals of death, and now even those have been denied them. Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome see in the empty tomb not victory, but loss.

Of course, they are afraid and despairing. Who wouldn’t be?

Eventually the women must have overcome their fear and done as the angel instructed them – proclaimed the startling news that Jesus had been raised from the dead. If they had not done so, we wouldn’t be hearing their story this morning.

Eventually their fear and terror must have given way to amazement and joy.

But this morning, Mark leaves us with the women as they run in fear and terror. He leaves us with the story unfinished. And maybe he does that on purpose, for a reason.

Perhaps what Mark is telling us is that just as the story of Jesus does not end with the crucifixion, neither does it end on Easter morning with the resurrection.

Mark’s story is unfinished – it leaves the ball in our court. It puts us to work, calls us to take our place in the ongoing story of the risen Christ.

There are two parts of that story for each of us.

The first is the amazing news that not even death can contain our God. As Paul says, “Death no longer has dominion over him.”

“Death, where is your victory?” Paul taunts. “Death, where is your sting?”

And the good news is that with Christ’s resurrection, death also no longer has dominion over us, either. As Christ was raised from the dead, so shall we be.

Which brings us to the second part of the story. If death no longer has dominion over us, then we are free to live without fear in this life, to live fully as God intended.

We are freed to live a life of resurrection now, to choose life over death, to work for justice and peace, to continue Christ’s work on earth.

“Jesus is going ahead of you,” the angel tells the women. “You will see him.”

The angel’s words to the women are also directed at us.

Jesus goes before us, always beckoning us forward, calling us to new life, to leave behind our terror and fear, and to rejoice as we proclaim

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

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Readings

Jeremiah 31:1-6

At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day when sentinels will call in the hill country of Ephraim: “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.”

Acts 10:34-43

Peter began to speak to the crowd: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him. This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

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