FIRST SUNDAY OF EASTER, March 31, 2024
(Mark 16:1-7)
As wonderful as we find Christmas, we have to recognize in
Easter something more significant. It is the celebration of the fulfillment of
God's purpose in becoming human. It is the announcement to the world that
Christ has defeated sin and death. The gospel tells us the story of his
victory, which offers us both hope and work.
The Gospel of Mark says that the three women who saw Jesus
crucified are now coming to embalm him. To avoid violating the sanctity of the
Sabbath, he was buried quickly on Friday. Now the women want to give their
beloved teacher a proper burial.
The women worry about how they will move the giant stone
that closed the tomb. But their thoughts undoubtedly extend further than this
issue. No doubt they are remembering what a tremendous person Jesus was. As
people today hold “celebrations of life” at funeral homes, these women would be
sharing their memories of Jesus. They would be talking to each other about how
Jesus liked to eat with all kinds of people. They would tell how he taught with
authority, but also used parables to help people understand.
As happy as their memories of Jesus are, the women encounter
the bitter reality that he is no longer with them. They think that they will no
longer hear his voice or feel his supportive touch. So they say that things
will never be the same and they wonder: how can they live without Jesus?
When they arrive at the tomb and see the stone rolled away,
they are scared. What happened? They would be suspecting that Jesus' enemies
stole his body. When they enter the tomb, they see an angel where Jesus' body
was laid. The angel announces to them
that Jesus is resurrected. Now the women are even more scared. After all, they
are in a cemetery with a spirit before their eyes. They might be wondering,
what does “resurrected” mean? Is it living with the body or without the body? in
the world or outside the world? for a limited time or forever?
The angel assigns them a task. They are to tell Peter and
the other disciples that they will find Jesus in Galilee. Where they began
their discipleship with the Lord, they will begin to bring it to conclusion.
But this time they will have the Holy Spirit as their light and strength. The
Spirit will remind them of what the Lord said about the need to suffer if they are
to follow Him. Likewise, the Spirit will strengthen them to overcome fear and
apathy in your mission.
We are similar to those women that first Easter. Like them,
we have a fear of death because we cannot see beyond the grave or, today, the
columbarium. Nor do we have an adequate view of the resurrection. We know that
it will involve a glorious new life rooted in our own bodies and that we will
intimately know Jesus Christ. But what we are going to do other than praise and
thank God remains obscure now. Finally, like those women, we are charged with
the task of telling others how the resurrected one awaits them. Somehow we have
to announce that Jesus has conquered sin and death – our sin and death. Now we
can live as new people freed from sin with his resurrection as our destiny.
