Easter Sunday

Mark 16:1-8

Rockville United Church
The Rev. Suzanne Rudiselle

April 16, 2006

I remember the Easter when I was 15. I got a beautiful new suit - yellow with tiny lavender checks. The jacket was short and the skirt pleated, and had large yellow pearl-like buttons. I thought it was gorgeous! As our family arrived at the church I saw some of my friends standing on the corner. I asked my dad to stop and let me out before he went to park the car. Sure that I was a vision, and wanting very much to impress that very special boy standing there, I quickly slid across the seat, leaped out of the car, beaming. Too late saw that the one button holding the skirt on had popped. I impressed the boy all right. My skirt was at my ankles and my face red as a beet! Easter surprise! Life is full of surprises. We all have surprises – some good – some not so good. We can laugh at some - at least later. Others take time to process and live with.

There is nothing in our experience to compare with the surprise the women got when they arrived at the tomb to do their duty in anointing the dead body of Jesus. Grim-faced, sad beyond words, their only concern that cold dim morning was how they would remove the huge stone that had sealed the tomb. They were not expecting a miracle. They were expecting a corpse.

Surprise number 1: the stone had been rolled away. Surprise number 2: as they entered the tomb they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed! He of course, said not to be alarmed - but it was too late. Their expectations did not prepare them for this! Surprise no. 3: He knew why they had come - and said as much, “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. Surprise number 4: the messenger went on, “He has been raised, he is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him.” How much did they hear? Or understand? It’s not clear. The angel or messenger continued, “Go, tell the disciples and Peter, that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” And they did go! They fled in terror and amazement. That’s not a surprise! Terror will do that.

The women who had been there all along, faithful witnesses to the crucifixion and death and burial couldn’t hang on any longer. Like the disciples before them they fled. And, Mark says, “They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Afraid they had lost their minds; afraid of the unimaginable circumstances; afraid no one would believe them; afraid for their lives. Afraid and silent.

Several years ago David Rhoads gave a presentation of this gospel and stopped where we did today. It was a sophisticated, biblically literate seminary audience who knew about the added endings and questions of their authenticity. But when David ended with this last verse, and walked off the stage, the audience became agitated. It wasn’t supposed to be over. That’s the way we feel when we hear it today and there is no sighting of Jesus, no eating of fish on the shore, no “great commission”. *In another seminary class the students were asked to read this passage and be prepared to discuss it the following day. Many came with theories and upbeat interpretations of this disturbing passage, except for one young woman who said, “I read this ending over several times last evening. I thought about it - and I cried.”

(*quoted by Donald Juel in Master of Surprise, Mark Interpreted)

I prefer the other gospels. I like the drama of Matthew with the earthquake, the angel descending and the guards stunned as “dead men”; or Luke in which the women run with joy to share the good news, and two others on the road to Emmaus meet the stranger who is the risen Christ; or John in which Peter and the beloved disciple are still competing to get into the empty tomb first, and Mary Magdalene sobbing in the garden is confronted by the Jesus whom she supposes to be the gardener. I want the women to be heroic. I want a happy ending. That is not the gospel according to Mark. The women simply flee in terror and say nothing.

You and I live long after this event. We can’t imagine the women not telling anyone. It’s certain that someone told, because we know the rest of the story. But Mark simply ends there. That’s a surprise too. How come? Doesn’t Mark know what the other gospel writers know? Why this strange resurrection account? We came today to hear good news and to celebrate. Well, here it is! Listen to the last words of verse 7, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

That’s the good news! Jesus is raised from the dead and is on the loose. He is going ahead of us, preceding us on our journeys. We are not alone or without the Divine One to guide and direct us. The promises of God are true. The prophesies of Jesus teaching are true. The story isn’t over! Wherever and whenever Jesus chooses, we will see him, JUST AS HE TOLD US”. Jesus has told us what will happen. We just don’t know when or where or how. The resurrection is the beginning of another chapter - a chapter that includes us. And all our scholarly attempts and vivid imaginings are not nearly as surprising as what God has in store. We cannot hold Jesus in check any more than the tomb or his enemies could hold him.

There are expectations yet unfulfilled and a future beyond our control. Some days we will make fools of ourselves, our skirts or trousers will fall and trip us up; we’ll make bold and passionate declarations of faithfulness, only to deny our faith; we’ll be surprised and terrified and tongue-tied and flee for our lives; we may be agitated for lack of tidy explanations or weep for the sadness of it all; but the risen Christ has gone ahead of us, and will find us and forgive us and use us to tell the story once more.

Look out! Jesus is alive and loose in the world, and the end is not in sight. Christ is risen! Alleluia!