An Easter Surprise—Lectionary Reflection for Easter Sunday, Year B (Mark 16)
Mark 16:1-8 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 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. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
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Throughout
Mark’s Gospel, we hear mention made of the lack of understanding regarding
Jesus’ death and resurrection. We’re told time and again that the disciples
finally understood the meaning of Jesus’ words after the resurrection. In other
words, they didn’t expect to encounter the risen Christ after Joseph of
Arimathea laid him in the tomb, while Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of
Joses looked on (Mk. 15:42-47). It’s worth noting that on Good Friday, none of
the twelve (minus Judas) could be found near the cross. Only a group of women
watched as Jesus’ earthly life came to an end.
Each of
the four Gospels tells the story of Jesus’ resurrection differently. Mark’s is
the briefest. In fact, it leaves us with more questions than answers. That is
probably why later editors tried to finish the job. Mark leaves us hanging.
That might be by design or it may be that Mark’s ending got lost. Nevertheless,
the brevity with which Mark tells the story of the resurrection offers us the
opportunity to ponder the meaning of his resurrection without a fuller
explanation.
Mark’s
story of Easter morning begins with three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James (is this the same Mary who is listed as the mother of Joses in
Mark 15?), and Salome, who bring spices to the tomb so they can finish the job
of preparing his body, a process cut short by the coming of the Sabbath a few
days earlier. It was early in the morning, around sunrise. As they walked
toward the tomb, they must have been experiencing a deep and abiding sense of grief
at their loss, both personally and regarding the cause they had committed
themselves to. As they dealt with these emotions, they realized that
someone would need to remove the stone from the tomb’s entrance. It was a good
question to consider because the stone was very large and none of the men were
with them. When they arrived at the tomb, they discovered that the stone had
already been removed from the entrance. You can imagine how that felt. Who
could have gotten there before them and rolled the stone away from the entrance?
They knew that none of their group had gone to the Tomb since Friday afternoon,
so what did it mean that the tomb was open?
When
they arrived at the tomb, they discovered that it was empty. At least Jesus’
body wasn’t in the tomb. What they found there was a “young man dressed in a
white robe sitting on the right side” of the tomb. When the women saw what
surely must be an angel, they were alarmed. Their sense of alarm led to the
young man/angel letting them know they needn’t be alarmed/afraid. Of course,
that is a common refrain when humans encounter angels. Then the young man, knowing
why they were there, told them: “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for
Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He’s been raised up; he’s
here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now—on your
way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee.
You’ll see him there, exactly as he said.” (Mk.
16:6-7 Message). Yes, the one you are looking for, the one whose
body you expected to prepare for burial, is no longer here in the tomb. He’s
been raised up and he’s headed to Galilee, so go tell the guys that you all
need to get on the road to meet him. After all, that’s what he told you would happen.
Now, if
you and I had been there that morning, would we have reacted any differently?
Would we be alarmed by finding the tomb open, the body missing, and a strange
young man sitting there? Would we have expected him to be raised from the dead?
Yes, he had spoken of his death and resurrection, but his followers didn’t
really understand what that meant.
After
the young man (let’s call him angel) gave them their instructions, they fled
the tomb in terror. Yes, they were terrified. When you’re frightened there are usually
two responses, fight, or flight. There was no point in fighting with this young
man who had delivered them a message from Jesus, so the only other option was
flight. But terror wasn’t the only emotion. Mark tells us that they were also “seized
with amazement.” While they had been told to report what they had seen and
heard to the rest of the crew, Mark says that they said nothing to anyone. That’s
where the story ends.
If we’ve
experienced prior Easter mornings, we can probably fill in the blanks left by
Mark. We’ll know that Jesus did appear to his friends. It might have been in
Jerusalem or maybe Galilee. It could have been on the road to Emmaus, but this
is not where the story ends. It’s only the beginning of the next chapter, but
it’s a chapter that the oldest versions of Mark don’t reveal. As for us, we’ll know
the songs. We can sing “Crown Him with Many Crowns” or maybe “Thine is the
Glory, risen conquering Son; endless in the victory thou o’er death hast won.”
As a
preacher, I might want to choose an alternative text. Maybe John’s version
would work well. That’s the alternative passage offered by the Revised Common
Lectionary. Mary Magdalene is featured in this story found in John 20. When she
discovers the empty tomb she runs and tells Peter and “the other disciple,” who
check things out for themselves. It’s only after they leave that Jesus appears
to a very distraught Mary. After that, she becomes an apostle to the apostles,
reporting to them her encounter with the risen Christ. Yes, why not choose
John? Over the years, I have chosen John’s version, but there is something
about Mark’s story that is worth considering. That’s because it invites us to ponder
the rest of the story. In fact, it invites us into silent contemplation. While
we don’t have any appearances by Jesus in the shorter ending, it’s not true
that Mark lacks a resurrection. The angel makes it clear that Jesus has been
raised from the dead. So, we are invited to believe in the resurrection, taking
into account the previous mentions of the resurrection earlier in the Gospel of
Mark.
If you are curious, you might check
out the “Longer Ending,” though it is a bit odd in places. It parallels Matthew
at points, but it also speaks of Jesus’ followers casting out demons, speaking
with new tongues, as well as picking up snakes, and drinking poisons without
experiencing harm (Mk. 16:9-20). Mark’s version does fit a certain audience
that is more skeptical of enchantment, which is why we likely avoid the longer
ending. However, even if we don’t adopt the entire message of the longer
ending, perhaps attending to it might stir within us that sense of spiritual
enchantment that many of us living in the twenty-first century seem to have
lost.
Ultimately the message of Easter
shines through whether we embrace the brevity of the original ending in verse 8
or choose to extend the conversation with the longer ending. We are invited to
consider the meaning of Christ’s resurrection and how it might influence our
lives.
While Mark’s version of the story
seems incomplete since the three women remain silent, it’s clear from other
sources, including the existence of the church in this century, that the word
got out. We might assume that the women after they sorted things out, let Peter
and the gang know they needed to head up to Galilee so they could meet with
Jesus. In Mark’s version the empty tomb reminds us that, as Paul revealed to
the Corinthians, death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55). But, as the New
Testament and tradition bear witness, Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t simply an
individual event. He died alone, yes, but his resurrection was communal. Jürgen
Moltmann points us to the witness of the Eastern church:
The Pascha (Easter) icons of the
Orthodox tradition show this: the resurrected Christ takes Adam’s hand with his
right hand and Eve’s hand with his left hand to pull both u from their graves.
With Adam and Eve, Christ pulls all humanity from the “kingdom of death” into
the light of eternal life. Christ’s death on the cross was lonely, and his
experience alone; his resurrection is a collective, inclusive act that
encompasses all of humankind and all of creation—a cosmic event, the beginning
of a new creation of all things. [Moltmann, Resurrected to Eternal Life, p.
13].
Yes, the Easter story is not just about Jesus. It’s also
about us and our destiny. So, we sing:
Up
from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose! —Robert Lowry
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