Hallelujah Anyway
Rev. Patricia Barth
April 16, 2006 (Easter Sunday)
The Sabbath day seemed to last forever, that Passover that Jesus lay in the tomb. Where did the women go, after watching helplessly from a distance as Jesus was crucified? Were they with the disciples, numb, shocked, mourning the loss of their teacher? Did they chafe at the enforced Sabbath rest? Or did they have families to care for, meals to serve and rituals to observe? How could they celebrate, after what they had seen and heard and felt?
The women had followed Jesus through Galilee on the long walk to Jerusalem. Part of his ministry, they watched the healings and listened to his teaching; they ministered to him and others. And now he was dead-all that they had worked for, finished. They must have been anxious to do the only thing left to them to do, to lovingly anoint and spice his body for burial.
A proper burial was very important in those days of Roman terror- that was often the only, if any, consolation left to the victim's family, to lovingly care for the remains. It was a woman's job, preparing the deceased for burial. When I was studying clinical pastoral education at Washington Hospital Center, I often thought of these strong, tender women of the Bible when I watched the nurses' touching care after someone had died on the floor. To get ready for the family to have one last look, the nurses gently wash and position the body, smoothing the sheets and tucking them in just like children; combing and fixing the hair to look nice. It's beautiful to watch their strong, tender hands; and I know that God's hands must be like that.
Just as the sun was coming up, when the Passover day and the long night were finally over, Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary the mother of James set out for the tomb. I imagine they were relieved to be doing something for Jesus. Don't we all feel that way? Whenever there is a death, we often feel helpless. And then when we think of something to do for the family--- make a casserole, bring some flowers, make a memorial donation, help out at the funeral-we feel better; relieved that we can get busy and do instead of feeling swamped with sorrow.
So the women must have been happy to being "doing" at last. But as they go, an unwelcome thought intrudes on their sense of purpose: "Who will roll the stone away?" How are they going to get past the big heavy stone at the entrance to the tomb? They walk, and worry, perhaps hurrying a bit more.
Once they reach the tomb, worry and anxiety give way to surprise. The huge stone, heavy for several men, is rolled away!
They enter the tomb, and are astounded to see a young man in a white robe, seated on the right-hand side. He said, "Don't be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, he is not here!" Imagine their shock and fear! "Alarmed" or "amazed" just doesn't adequately express it. There's a very good reason most of the angel stories in the Bible begin with the angel saying, "Fear not!" We ordinary mortals tend to get overwhelmed with fear when heaven intersects with earth.
I can't imagine they even understood the angel's next words, can you? We often don't hear when we are in shock. The angel says, "Go, tell the disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee, that is where you will see him, just as he told you." What a mysterious message that must have been to the women! But perhaps they overheard Jesus saying those words on the way to the Mount of Olives, after the Last Supper.
We usually see paintings of the male disciples around the table with Jesus, and no women in sight; but I'm here to tell you, the disciples didn't cook dinner by themselves. And I don't think Jesus magically levitated the food onto the table either. That dinner was served by women, and they were there that night. And now they are the first witnesses to the resurrection. An important, yet scary role.
Mark continues, "The women ran from the tomb, confused and shaking all over" - "They ran away from the tomb because they were frightened out of their wits" - or, "Trembling and astonishment had come upon them" - or, "Confused and shaking with fear-the women ran home; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." These different translations all paint a pretty dismal picture.
People hearing this ending for the first time are often overwhelmed with its lack of resolution. "That's it? That's how it ends?? What an inglorious finish!" These women, who defied convention to follow Jesus and help him, who were strong enough to watch the crucifixion when the disciples were hidden away, just cut and ran! End of story! Can we really make an Easter sermon out of this??? Where's the good news?
We're not the first ones to notice that this ending is abrupt. Many churches don't read from this gospel at Easter, preferring instead the glorious story told by John. Soon after the gospel of Mark was first written down, someone else couldn't resist fixing it up and enhancing it to make the disciples look good. A variety of different endings were added, none in Mark's unique style. So we know without a doubt that Mark didn't write the longer endings. What the added endings have in common is that the disciples finally get it together and go out, preaching everywhere! With signs and wonders, to general acclaim! Don't believe it for a minute.
I actually like the short, original ending. It's realistic. It's human. The Jesus found in the gospel of Mark may be divine, but he's also very human. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus feels terror and anguish, and at first pleads with God to stop the crucifixion. From the cross he cries out in pain and abandonment. If Jesus can be so human, then so can Mary, Salome and Mary. And so can we. Of course they ran away in fear-who wouldn't? I would have been the first one back home, pulling the covers over my head.
The good news, sisters and brothers, is that Jesus accepts us just as we are, fearful, trembling, cowardly, running away, even if we're home with the covers pulled over our heads instead of out in the world preaching. He knows what it is to be afraid.
Even more important, he knows what it's like to die a painful death, deserted and alone. In Jesus' death, in all our deaths, God stands shoulder to shoulder with us.
God loved us so much, that he was willing to be born as one of us, to taken on himself the worst that this world can dish out, and to triumph over death and pain. Jesus' death on the cross lets us know just how much we are loved. Nothing, no thing, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Sin and death, pain and fear, don't have the last word-God has a lot more to say.
And the women? Of course they told! How do you think we know about it? Amen
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