Easter Sunday

Through this Lenten Season, we have been walking with Jesus through the last week of his life. Sunday, he entered Jerusalem as the crowd shouted “Hosanna” and waved Palm Branches in the air. Monday, he cleansed the temple. Tuesday, he returned to the temple where he taught the people and confronted the temple authorities with the realities of their sin. Wednesday, again, he taught in the temple and Judas made an agreement to betray him. Thursday, he shared the Last Supper with the disciples and then they walked to the Garden of Gethsemane where he was arrested. Thursday night, he was tried and tortured by the temple authorities. Friday, he was tortured again and crucified. Saturday, his lifeless body lay in a dark cold tomb that had been carved out of a limestone hill.

Now it is early Sunday morning.  The disciples have spent a long day and night remembering their days with Jesus and wondering what would happen next. As the disciples of a man who had been crucified as an insurrectionist, “King of the Jews” is the sign they posted on his cross, his disciples must know that they too could be arrested and crucified as his collaborators. They are afraid and I believe that they are disappointed. Dreams and hopes have been destroyed and all they can do now is wonder, what will we do now?

Before the sun is up, three women go to buy spices to anoint the body of Jesus and just as the sun is peeking above the eastern horizon they begin their solemn journey to the tomb.  Why? They fully expect Jesus’ body to do what every body does in death, they expect the signs of early decomposition and the odor that goes with it and they are  taking spices that will cover the smell. It is a way of giving honor to the dead, one last gesture of love for their departed teacher and friend.

The tomb is a cave that has been carved out of a limestone hill. It is possible that a small cave would have already been present. There are limestone caves all over Palestine, and perhaps the cave had simply been remodeled as a tomb. There is a small door, an entry room and then perhaps one or two side chambers where the bodies are placed. To protect the bodies from scavenging animals, a stone has been placed in front of the doorway. The stone looks like a large round millstone that could be rolled back and forth in front to the tomb – if one is strong enough to do it.

So, the women ask one another, who will roll away the stone?  Just like every person in this room, had we been there, they do not have a clue! And why should they? This is not like the egg that naturally produces the chick. This is not the bulb that naturally produces the flower in spring. This is something for which they have had no preparation in life experience. They are going to take care of the body of their lost friend.

They arrive at the tomb and, surprise, the stone has already been rolled back and the door is open. It is a small door and a small entry room inside and they cannot help but look. Inside, they see a young man dressed in a white robe and  “they were alarmed.” (16:5)

“Do not be alarmed,” he said. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified. He is not here.  He is risen. Look over there where his body lay. Now go and tell the disciples and Peter that he will meet you in Galilee just as he said.

Why Galilee? They were from Galilee. Galilee was home. He told them to go home and he will meet you there.

And then the Gospel tells us that the women were bewildered and frightened and they ran away and they told no one!

And according to our best sources, that is where the original writer of Mark’s Gospel stopped the story. A later writer couldn’t stand that ending and added a few more paragraphs. But Mark stops with the women’s uncertainty and fear.

Why would he do that?  Matthew, Luke and John do not stop there. They tell us about other times and places where Jesus appeared. The Apostle Paul said that Jesus appeared to more than 500 people! What was Mark trying to tell us?

The Gospel of Mark was written between 60 and 70 AD, 30 to 40 years after the crucifixion. It was a time of intense persecution for Jews and Christians. As the writer emphasizes the fear of the women, those early readers would have said something like this to themselves, “Aha, So Jesus was resurrected in a time just like ours.” They would have seen the power of God acting in the midst of horrendous circumstances and they would have said to themselves,” If God can resurrect Jesus, then God can see us though our own suffering.”

But we do not live in ancient Palestine under the rule of Rome and we were not there on that Easter Sunday. Neither do we live in that season of Roman oppression in which the Gospel was written. So the question for us is this, so what? So, what does the resurrection of Jesus mean for those of us living in twenty-first century America?

First, when we look at the cross and at the events that led to the crucifixion, all  pretension is stripped away from stark reality of evil and it is revealed in all of its ugliness. The Romans built the roads and constructed magnificent buildings and made all kinds of wonderful and beautiful things. But when we look at the brutality that preceded Jesus’ execution, all of the gold and silver and all of the hypocrisy are stripped away and we see just how ugly sin is.

When we look at the temple and we reconstruct its beauty and we remember the magnificent truth embodied in the faith of the Jews, we stand before God in gratitude and amazement. And then we see how a few people can take religion and twist it and contort it and abuse it and turn it into something ugly and the cross reveals the pure ugliness of that distortion.

When we look at the cross of Jesus, we see the power of sin and the pure ugliness of sin revealed for what it truly is.

Now this is the hard part. If we have the courage to look carefully enough, we will see the ugliness of our own sin too and we will recognize the need for something better and brighter and more beautiful.

If we will look again at the cross, we will see Jesus and in Jesus we will see the character of God himself. We will see his love and his integrity and his courage and the truth that he spoke.  If the cross reveals the brutal ugliness of sin, then Jesus reveals the remarkable love and beauty of God.

Now, we look back at Jesus’ life and ministry. In Jesus’ time, very few people could hope to find happiness and joy in the externals of life. Deprivation was the rule and poverty was the norm. So Jesus taught people how to experience joy and happiness from the inside out. He taught us that joy is found first, last, and always in our relationship with God and in the love that we share with one another and he taught us how to live within those relationships.

To look at it in another way, Jesus’ mission was nothing less than the transformation of every human being and the transformation of the entire world into a place where every boy and girl, every man and women would live as a beloved child of God.

So, on the cross, we see the brutality of sin, stripped of all of its pretension and decoration and there we see in Jesus the character of God and vision that God has for this world – that all of God’s children will live as beloved children of God!

Do you see the contrast? Now this is the meaning of the resurrection. Jesus and his mission do not die! Jesus lives and with Jesus the hope that God will prevail in this world of sin. In God’s own time and way, the living Jesus will prevail and the Kingdom of God will rule over all! 

And in the meantime, we are citizens in his kingdom and we are learning his lessons and we know the power of joy from the inside out! We know his salvation, now and forever more.

What does Easter mean? It means that not even death is powerful enough to overcome the love of God revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It means that God will love you forever.