ACT I: The Faithful Rise at Dawn
Mark 16:1-8 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
Meditation: Meeting Insurmountable Difficulties
I’m a crepuscular creature…
The word “crepuscular” is not often used, so you may not be familiar with it. Allow me to explain…
Some creatures, like possums, bushbabies, hedgehogs, raccoons, and of course, bats and owls, only come out at night.
These are nocturnal creatures.
Other animals, like ostriches, elephants, squirrels, butterflies, and human beings, prefer to be active during the day.
Biologists refer to these creatures as “diurnal.”
What then, is a crepuscular creature?
The word “Crepuscular” comes from the Latin word crepusculum which means “twilight.” A crepuscular creature, then, is a creature that is active at dawn and at dusk – the times when the world transitions from dark to light, or from light to dark.
Rabbits. Barn swallows. Deer. Skunk, chinchillas and Ocelots. These creatures are all crepuscular.
And if I may, I would like to add myself to that list…
I love being out in the morning before anyone else is awake. I love walking outside at sunset, when the swallows dart among the eaves. So this Easter morning I propose a new list.
Rabbits. Barn swallows. Deer. Skunk, chinchillas and Mark.
The three women that we just heard about in the gospel of Mark’s version of the resurrection story, are also crepuscular creatures.
“Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,” get up in the morning before dawn to go to the tomb to anoint Jesus.
I can just imagine them walking through the quiet streets of Jerusalem, before anyone is up.
Their footsteps echo against the buildings, and somewhere beyond the outskirts of town, the sky has begun to faintly change color in the East.
They are on a sad errand. When the Sabbath was over, they bought spices, and now, they were going to anoint the body of their beloved teacher who had been executed by crucifixion three days before.
When they speak to each other, they do so in hushed tones. Their spirits are dampened by the death of a loved one. Also, the hush of the early morning quiets their souls…
“When we get to the tomb,” one whispers, “How are we going to move the stone?”
“I don’t know,” another admits. “We can’t move it.”
“Then why are we going?” the third woman asks.
The question hangs in the air. They leave it unanswered as they continue on their way.
Holy Week, this year, takes place in the midst of terrible wars, not only Gaza and Ukraine but all over the world. A quick Google search reveals that right now armed conflict, civil unrest, civil war, and terrorist insurgencies are actively taking place in 39 counties.
Easter, in a time of war.
Even though this reality is almost unbearably depressing, as people of faith, we cannot lose sight of it. We cannot put our heads in the sand and expect it all to just go away.
We have to get up before dawn.
We need to get dressed and go out, even though we think that there is no way that we can possibly move the stone.
I don’t think that faith is not about expecting God to move the stone.
That would be too easy. Faith is not easy.
I think being a person of faith is being the kind of person who has the strength of purpose and moral integrity to keep walking in spite of the insurmountable difficulties.
The women teach us to meet insurmountable difficulties with simple acts of love.
This is the essence of our faith.
If we all acted this way – showing up to show love…
there would be no war.
Its that simple.
Amen
ACT II: The Rock is Moved
Matthew 28:2-5 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
MEDITATION: Facing Fear
The observant among you may have noticed that the last part of the story was taken from the book of Mark, and the part that we just heard, was from the gospel of Matthew.
This Easter, I have decided to make the most of this resurrection story, by getting input from each of the four gospels.
The Bible is not an ordinary book.
The New Testament, in particular, is pretty unusual.
One of the peculiarities of the New Testament, is that it is not satisfied to tell the story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth once. The story is told four times, by four different writers.
Thanks to Matthew we now know how the the insurmountable difficulty – the heavy stone at the mouth of the tomb – gets pushed aside. A very impressive personage – an “angel of the Lord” shows up to take care of this detail.
And if the women were unlikely to be able to move the stone, this angel is the most likely. He is better than any earth excavator.
The Angel’s appearance actually causes an earthquake! Not only that, the angel has “an appearance like lightning.”
The guards who were near Christ’s tomb, had a completely appropriate response to the angel’s appearance. Matthew reports that they “shook and became like dead men.”
We are not told how the women react, but we can guess that they were also scared, because the angel approaches them and says:
‘Do not be afraid”
Really?
That’s asking a lot lightning earthquake man!
Are you not aware that we humans are designed to be afraid of lightning and earthquakes. It’s hard to imagine casually sitting through an earthquake. It’s hard to imagine greeting a celestial being quivering with the power of lightning with a nonchalant “hi how are ya.”
Look…
Lightning Earthquake man knows that the women are going to be afraid.
Lightning Earthquake man does not expect them not to be afraid – he tells them not to be afraid.
He tells them this, even though he, himself, is in the precise form that most inspires fear.
Easter in a time of war.
Missiles. Bombs. Tanks. Terrorism. Machine guns. Starvation.
These things – like lightning and earthquakes – are the essence of fear.
God tells us not to be afraid of them.
Not because they do not inspire fear, but because they inspire fear.
Like Jesus, we are being asked to face the things that we are most scared of.
God is not reassuring us that these things will not hurt and destroy us.
They very well may hurt or destroy us.
But we must face them anyway.
Bravely.
So that they will be no more.
The only way to end war is to not be afraid of it. Face it. Conquer it – just as Jesus conquered death.
Bravely.
Amen.
ACT III: A Witness Forsaken
Luke 24:5-11 …they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
MEDITATION: The Best Witnesses
Luke has taken up the story now.
In all four gospels the first people to get to the tomb are women.
Wouldn’t it have been more effective if the first people to the tomb had been reporters? A local news team would have gotten the word out more effectively. They could’ve filmed the whole thing and put it on the six o-clock news.
If God wanted to change the world, why make the first witnesses a handful of forgetful ladies?
According to Luke, the angel had to even remind these women that Jesus predicted all these events. Didn’t they remember?
Arguably the most important news in the history of the world – the news of Christ’s resurrection – is placed in the hands of three women. It’s risky, isn’t it?
It seems so… because even when the women successfully report the events to the disciples – the disciples don’t believe them. The disciples prone to believing stereotypes about the “idleness” of women’s stories – dismiss their claims.
Time and again, throughout the gospels, God’s truth is revealed, not through power, but through vulnerability.
The women were not the worst witnesses. They were the best.
The women did not take the knowledge that they had been given, and use it to consolidate power.
They are Jesus’ witnesses – the bearers of his good tidings, because they, like him, are not interested in power.
They are interested in a truth that grows from a real relationship.
It was the inspiration and integrity of real relationship that got them up before dawn and out in the streets in the first place.
God’s word is not communicated efficiently. God makes use of the inefficient – the vulnerable – the women who, above all, act from a motivation to love.
To dismiss such testimony, is to dismiss God’s testimony.
The disciples learned this soon enough.