May only truth be spoken and truth heard. Amen.
According
to Jewish law, the body of the deceased is to be washed thoroughly, wrapped in
a simple white shroud, and buried. All this is to happen within 24 hours of
death.
Also
under Jewish law, no work can be done on the Sabbath.
So
when Jesus died as the Sabbath began, the disciples weren’t allowed to tend to
his body. Jesus was placed in his tomb but the ritual of cleansing the body did
not happen.
At
the beginning of chapter 16 of Mark, the women who were part of the Jesus’ entourage
– Mary Magdalene, James’ mother Mary, and Mary’s half-sister Salome – headed to
Jesus’ tomb to complete the Jewish burial ritual.
They
go anticipating what will be, and what they will need to do. They talk about
the plans they have for how things will unfold: Who will roll away the stone? And likely the other details too. Who will anoint Jesus’ body? Do we need
someone to keep watch? (another part of the Jewish burial ritual)
We
can imagine the conversation unfolding as they make their way to the tomb. Conversations
many of us have had as we make our own preparations and funeral arrangements
for a loved one. We know what it is to be overwhelmed by our grief and to be
focused, almost singlehandedly on the tasks at hand.
When
they got to the tomb, the stone was moved and there sat a young man dressed in
a white robe.
This
man told the women that Jesus wasn’t there, that he has been raised and isn’t
there. He then told them to run and tell the disciples that Jesus will meet
them all in Galilee, just as he promised.
Mark
tells us that the women ran away and told no one about what they saw.
And
then the Gospel just ends.
Mark’s
version of the resurrection is anticlimactic to say the least. Like much of the
rest of his gospel, it is brief and leaves us… wanting.
It
is believed that monks, as they were transcribing this Gospel, didn’t like the
sudden ending and wrote in the “shorter ending of Mark” and the “longer ending
of Mark” that adds in details about Jesus’ appearance to the disciples
post-resurrection.
Let’s
imagine for a moment though that Mark knew exactly what he was doing. That he
crafted an incomplete ending by design. That he left the story hanging on this
moment of failure and disappointment for a reason.
Why
would he do that?
Maybe
because he knew that no story about death and resurrection could possibly have
a neat and tidy ending.
Maybe
because he believed that this story isn’t over yet, and he writes an open
ending to his gospel in order to invite us to jump in and take up our part in
continuing it.
Are
you ready to take up where Jesus left off?
Will you run in fear or will you proclaim the good news in word and action?
Author
Madeleine L'Engle wrote, “The disciples did not bother to try to understand the
resurrection body. They doubted, and then they believed. They believed
something so wonderful that it changed this broken, fragmented, beaten-down
little group of men and women in a moment from depression to enthusiasm, from
despair to new life, vibrant and unafraid."
But
when you don’t get to hear the resurrection part of the story, as with how Mark
ends his Gospel, we are left alarmed and afraid.
The
women are alarmed, anxious, and afraid. Their friend, their teacher, the Son of
God has been killed by the very empire he came to redeem, and now his body is
not where they had laid it.
What
do we do when God is not in the place we expect and have been told and taught to
believe God will be?
What
do we do when God isn’t there and we are unsure where God has gone… where God’s
been taken to, how or when or if God will be returned to us?
How
do you respond to an empty tomb?
It
is human nature to want clean endings, to want closure. But it was no accident
that Mark left his Gospel unfinished.
That’s
because the story is just beginning.
It’s
only the beginning; this story isn’t over.
It’s
only the beginning, and we have a part to play.
If
you wonder why there is still so much distress and pain in the world, it’s
because God’s not done yet.
It’s
only the beginning, and Mark is inviting us to get out of our seats and into
the game, sharing the good news of Jesus’ complete identification with those
who are suffering, and his triumph over injustice and death with everyone we
meet.
If
you do not like the end of Mark’s gospel, then write a better one…with your
life!
You
are the end of the Gospel!
You
want to experience the resurrected Christ? Live as he lived, love as he loved,
forgive as he forgave, and believe as he believed and you will experience
Jesus.
Repent
and believe. Turn from your ideas, your expectations, your ideas, wants, desires,
and ways - die to your old self - and believe in this good news of new and abundant
life.
Walking
into the newness of resurrected life means and requires us to leave part of ourselves
behind. Our old selves. Old ways. And sometimes this happens without our being
ready or even wanting to.
Sometimes
it means leaving things we are not ready to leave behind.
Today
is not the end of the story. Today is the beginning. The beginning which is not
yet known and still unwritten. We don’t know where God… where Jesus is leading
us.
But
we know, and God has promised to prepare a place for us and us for the place where
we are going.
That
is the good news on this Easter morning. Just as Jesus has told us before,
Jesus tells us now.
Resurrection,
new life, often doesn’t look the way we expect, anticipate, or plan. In fact, it
very likely will alarm us.
Do
not be afraid. Follow where Jesus is leading… where Jesus is going… where Jesus
is waiting for us to see him and to continue living into the new life we have
been given.
Mark
wants us to know that Jesus’ death is only the beginning. The rest of the story
is unfolding before our very eyes and through our lives.
We
don’t get closure to this story, because it is still ongoing.
Mark’s
Gospel is “The beginning of the good news”
(1:1). Our story is its continuation.
Amen.
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