Well sisters and brothers, we have made it through Holy Week. From Palm Sunday through Love Feast and Good Friday, it seems like we conclude with Easter and then we can all have a nice rest. The problem with this scheme though, is that Easter, resurrection, isn’t about rest or endings. It is about new creation and new beginnings.
Mark begins his gospel with these words, The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and from there goes on to reveal who Jesus is. In the middle of his gospel, is the turning point, when Simon Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. It is at that point that Jesus pivots from revealing who he is, what God is like, and what the Kingdom of God is like, to revealing what his mission is, and it is to be rejected by the religious leaders and to be killed, then rise from the dead. At heart, Jesus’ mission was to fulfill the great story of Israel and to launch the Kingdom of God on earth.
The disciples had their idea of just how this was supposed to happen. The disciples and many of the first century Jews believed that when the Messiah arrived, that Israel’s oppressors would be defeated, that wrongs would be righted, the sick made well, the lame would walk, the blind would see, the Jews dispersed across foreign lands would return from their long exile, the faithful dead would be resurrected, and the Messiah would sit on the throne of David and rule forever after accomplishing all these things.
But from chapter eight and on, Mark shows us how Jesus spent his time with the disciples, not gathering an army or strategizing the overthrow of their oppressors, but continuing to teach them the ways of the kingdom, while explaining to them just how it was to be inaugurated, through his suffering and death.
We clearly see demonstrated, this lack of understanding, in our gospel passage today when the women went to the tomb.
I almost chose the Gospel reading from John instead of Mark, because today’s gospel reading is challenging as the original ending of the Gospel of Mark, which we heard today, ends rather abruptly. So abruptly, that throughout time, others have come along and added more satisfying endings, which are included in many Bibles, as vss. 9-20. If yours is a rather new translation, these additional verses will have a note added if they are there at all. This partial note is from the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible NIV. It says regarding these additional verses,
This passage is missing in the earliest manuscripts and is not in Mark’s style.. Many ancient sources, including speeches and biographies, ended abruptly, as Mark does in v. 8.
The Gospel of Mark, thought to be either the first or second gospel which we have, was written for the Romans and in a fast paced style, so it isn’t completely unreasonable to think he may have ended his gospel before the women encountered the Risen Christ. Other scholars like N. T. Wright and the late Bruce Metzger find it unreasonable that Mark would have just ended before the women summon up the courage to tell what had happened, and surmise that the parchment at the end of the scroll became damaged and destroyed, an occurrence that was not uncommon with ancient scrolls.
Whether intentional or due to wear and tear, the Markan gospel ends with, Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. Now, we know that they overcame their fear, because we have other gospel accounts which tell us that the women did go tell Peter and the disciples, but since this is the ending that we have in this gospel, let's take a closer look at what Mark was communicating in this last portion of his telling.
It had been over a full day since Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses had witnessed Joseph of Arimathea quickly wrap Jesus’ body in linen and place him in a tomb. That had been on Friday just before sundown which began the sabbath, the day which all Jews were to refrain from work, and now it was early Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of young James, and Salome the mother of James and John were heading to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body and they were discussing who was going to move the stone away for them. These were not women expecting Jesus to have risen from the dead, or even hoping he had. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in the resurrection, it’s just that their understanding of the resurrection was so different. They understood that when the Messiah arrived, all the righteous would be raised at the same time. One man being resurrected before the others didn’t make any sense at all. Their expectations kept them from hearing what Jesus had told them, so there they were doing the loving, honoring, and practical thing as the bodies were anointed at burial to cover over the smell of decay. There had been no time to anoint Jesus’ body before Sabbath, so here were Mary, Mary, and Salome, coming to properly complete Jesus’ burial. They were also trying to figure out the logistics of how to get to Jesus’ body, because three women would not be able to roll a stone which would have weighed between 1500-3000 lbs. They wondered who would roll the stone away from the entrance for them.
I appreciate how they didn’t have that all figured out, but went anyway. Perhaps they had faith that God would provide someone to help. They ended up receiving more help than they bargained for, didn’t they. When they saw that the stone had been moved, they went into the tomb, and saw a young man in white, I presume this was a messenger of God, seated on the right side and the women were startled. A completely understandable response, and the messenger, says what all God’s messengers say, Don’t be alarmed, or Don’t be afraid, though saying the phrase is seldom or never effective. He then proceeds to tell them what they are doing, that they are looking for Jesus who was crucified, and then simply tells them that Jesus has been raised and that he isn’t there, then he points out the place where he had been laid.
Let's pause here and think about what might have been going through the women’s minds. Would they have wondered if this young man is a true messenger of God who is speaking to them? Would they have thought that perhaps somebody had taken Jesus’ body? Perhaps they questioned that if Jesus is risen, what is he going to do? What is going to happen next? Where is he now? There are perhaps other thoughts you can think of, others which you might have wondered in those circumstances.
The messenger gives the women instructions. Go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” If you were here Friday at noon for Good Friday service, you heard the passage where Jesus told the disciples he would meet them in Galilee, chapter 14:27, reads, 27 Jesus said to them, “You will all falter in your faithfulness to me. It is written, I will hit the shepherd, and the sheep will go off in all directions. 28 But after I’m raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
The messenger wants the women to remind the disciples of what Jesus said, and to meet him in Galilee, but the women are afraid and tell no one….until.
This abrupt ending, as uncomfortable as it makes us feel, is an opportunity to enter into the story, to ask the questions like I posed just a moment ago. It’s helpful to remember that when these gospels were written and copied, they were not used for personal reading, as the majority of the population couldn’t read and copies were expensive and rare. These accounts of Jesus’ life would have been read aloud to Jesus’ followers who had gathered to worship and share a meal. Imagine hearing this gospel read to you. Perhaps some of those assembled would have encountered one of the eyewitnesses of Jesus after his resurrection and had more to tell. Perhaps some could sympathize with the women whose whole understanding of what God was doing and how he was doing it was turned upside down, or rather, rightside up, because their understanding had been turned around when they encountered the spirit of Christ and decided to follow him.
Remember how Mark began his gospel, The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son,? It appeared on Friday after the Passover, that Jesus had been just another false and failed Messiah. He had been given a sham trial, handed over to occupying authorities, and rejected by the crowd. Those who had followed him, like the women, followed him to the end, because he was different, he taught a different way of being and relating. He spoke truth and acted mercifully. He was holy. What Jesus did on Good Friday was to take on all the wickedness of the world, and to respond with love and forgiveness, and in doing so, fulfilled the mission of Israel. In his rising from the dead, he defeated death, not just for himself, but for everyone. Paul writes in Romans 5, 18 In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. 19 For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.
In Mark chapter 8, Jesus told his disciples, All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them. 36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?
Jesus in his earthly life and teachings, taught us what it means to be truly human, to be truly born of God, and it looks very different from what the world would have us live. Death, the thing which despots and authorities, whether great or small, use to control people through their fear of it, no longer has any power. Christ has defeated death, and those who know it are no longer constrained by fear of it. We are free to live as Kingdom people, and that is just what we are called to do. Just as Jesus called his disciples, and there were many more than 12, remember, he calls each one of us, our neighbors, our friends, our family, our enemies. He invites us to enter the story of The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son. It’s a never ending story about how Jesus is making all things new, and you are invited in on the adventure. It can be scary, but like the women who followed Jesus to the end, and to their surprise, the new beginning, you can release your fear, because, as another gospel writer records, Jesus tells his disciples,
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
-Pastor Gina Wright-Hawkins
Preached at Monte Vista Church of the Brethren, Resurrection Sunday, 31 March 2024
