Feast of the Resurrection

By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Easter Day; Feast of the Resurrection
8 April 2007

Text: John 20: 1-18, Other Readings: Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2,14-24; I Corinthians 15:19-26


The Sabbath is now past! Jesus has been in the tomb for 3 days, & it is now the 1st day of the week so Mary Magdalene ventures early in the morning to the tomb, finding the stone rolled away. In astonishment, she rushes to Peter & the disciple Jesus loved, we are told, to carry the news. Mary thinks someone has removed the body surreptitiously, & the male disciples rush to the tomb to see for themselves. Sure enough, they see linen wrappings & the head cloth, but no Jesus. What was it that they believe has happened? We aren't told but rather, we know they return to their homes, perhaps to mull over what they've seen.

Which leaves Mary of Magdala outside the tomb. Yes, she's returned, following along behind the male disciples, & she stays at the entrance to the tomb, weeping. The men have sprung into action, at least to leave the garden, & Mary has responded by staying close & crying. Because she has lingered, it is she who sees two angels where Jesus has been lying. She knows where he lay because she had been at the crucifixion & had obviously been with Joseph of Aramathea when he enclosed Jesus' body in the tomb. Mary has been steadfast when all others have abandoned Jesus.

She supposes the man who appears outside the grave is the gardener & cries out to him, "They have taken away my Lord!" Isn't it curious that Mary of Magdala who has accompanied him throughout his life & death now does not recognize him? Perhaps that's because her expectations don't include encountering Jesus alive in the flesh once again. How many times are we blinded to the reality before us because it is different from what we had anticipated? Regardless, Jesus calls her by name & then her eyes are opened. Jesus recognizes her as a precious child of God, & her heart is likewise opened. Jesus also drops a hint as to why Mary doesn't recognize him: "Do not hold on to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father." Jesus' resurrected body must look in some ways different from his earthly one.

Then Jesus does a truly astonishing thing: he sends Mary to announce his resurrection to the other disciples. Now it may be true that he sends Mary because the guys have taken off too soon & she's the only one left, but I suspect Jesus chooses Mary because he trusts Mary to do as he bids her & knows she'll get the story right. Mary has been ever faithful to him, & once again, she makes herself available & does his bidding. No wonder she has earned the name "apostle to the apostles!"

For those of us who have walked in Jesus' footsteps throughout the Holy Week just past, those who have waited & watched & experienced the latter days of Jesus' earthly life, for those whose feet were washed & who witnessed the crucifixion, even at a safe distance, those who stood with children just last night beginning their journey of faith as they were initiated into the body of Christ through the sacrament of baptism, Mary's announcement of the resurrection can only be met with Alleluia! Christ is risen! We sing the Easter carols & hear this year's gospel story of the empty tomb.

One of the children who has come to this altar regularly with his hands crossed over his heart, once he was baptized last night, was eager in anticipation of sharing the other great sacrament of the Church—Holy Eucharist—immediately after his baptism. Though he was disappointed that he must wait even one more night to receive the body & blood for the first time, he will join his church family at the altar to eat & drink of the risen Savior eagerly this morning. Many of us promised with great vigor last night to accompany him in living into the baptismal vows he & five others took last night, to form them after the mind & the life of Christ. What message would Mary Magdalene have for him today about how Jesus Christ has changed her life? What message have you to tell him about your new life in Christ?

Tomorrow afternoon I will preside at the funeral of a longtime member of our parish, Major B. J. Johnson who died on Maundy Thursday. She was a faithful member of the Greatest Generation who served our country during WWII & the Korean War & was the first VIPS volunteer with HISD. She had been ill for a long time & was taken communion from this altar regularly by our Eucharistic visitors. Though she never married, she has a host of relatives who mourn her passing. Our human grief at being separated from her is natural & appropriate, but we will also sing the Easter hymn "Alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord" because we know by Jesus' resurrection that B.J. likewise lives now in the nearer presence of God. As the burial rite tells us, her life is changed, not ended.

What difference does Christ's being raised from the dead, overcoming the power of death, make in your life? St. Symeon, "The New Theologian," who lived just about a thousand years ago, expressed exceedingly well the miracle of Easter as it can be personal to us. We are indebted to Stephen Mitchell as quoted in Andrew Harvey's book Son of Man as he translates

We awaken in Christ's body
as Christ awakens our bodies,
and my poor hand is Christ,
he enters my foot, and is infinitely me.
I move my hand, and wonderfully
my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of him
(for God is indivisibly
whole, seamless in his Godhood).
I move my foot, and at once
He appears like a flash of lightning
Do my words seem blasphemous?—
then open your heart to him.
And let yourself receive the one
who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
we wake up inside Christ's body.
where all our body, all over,
every most hidden part of it,
is realized in joy as him,
and he makes us, utterly, real,
and everything that is hurt, everything
seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
maimed, ugly, irreparably
damaged, is in him transformed
and recognized as whole, as lovely,
and radiant in his light. . .
Alleluia!