March 31, 2024 Resurrection of Our Lord The text is Mark 16:1-8.

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¹When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint [Jesus’ body]. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. ⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶But 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. ⁷But 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.” ⁸So 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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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed, Alleluia!  Is he, though?  There certainly isn’t anything in this morning’s reading from Mark’s gospel would lead us to proclaim that Jesus has, indeed risen from the grave.  Now, I know this sounds quite distressing, but the fact is that Mark leaves the question of Jesus’ resurrection unanswered.  We read that when the women came to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for burial, the body was not there and the tomb was empty.  The young man in white, arguably an angel pointed out where Jesus had lain and told the women that he had gone ahead of them to Galilee, where they and the disciples would see him.  But this is where Mark’s gospel ends; well, sort of.

There are many biblical scholars who contend that the following few verses were added later by some persons who were not satisfied with the way Mark leaves the story; that is, with no post-resurrection encounters with Jesus.  In fact, Mark suggests that no one ever said anything about Jesus’ missing body or that he did, in fact rise from the grave.  We read only that the women, seeing the empty tomb were seized with terror and amazement, and that they said nothing to anyone.

It seems like only Mark chose this way to end his gospel account, for each of the other gospel writers includes at least two pieces of evidence that Jesus had arisen.  In Matthew, Jesus comes among the disciples, commanding them to “make disciples of the nations”, and he reminds them, “I am with you always, to the end of the age”.  No mention of this in Mark, only that the women were filled with terror and amazement.  Luke writes that Jesus walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus and they recognized him only after he broke bread with them at dinner.  And later, he showed them the wounds of his crucifixion.  No wounds, no break-breaking in Mark.  John’s gospel is the most complete of the post-resurrection encounters Jesus has with his followers.  He comforts Mary Magdalene outside the tomb and appears to the disciples twice as they hid in the locked room; the second time, dispelling Thomas’ doubts.  But in the first gospel written, Mark’s there are no locked room encounters and Mary leaves the tomb without seeing the risen Christ.  Why does Mark end the story without closure?  Perhaps he intends this to be an invitation for others to finish his writings in their own words, by their own faith, through their own experiences with the risen Christ.

 Alleluia, Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed, Alleluia!  Mark doesn’t spell this out for us, but what he does write is that the angel sitting in the empty tomb told the women that they will see Jesus in Galilee, “just as he told you.”  And maybe this is why Mark didn’t feel it was necessary to write anything more than he did; Jesus’ promise to rise from the grave and live again is sufficient.  There is no need for terror and amazement, Jesus has gone ahead and waits for his followers.  Christ has risen and they will see him in Galilee, just as he told them.  And the follow-up to how Mark ends his gospel may be provided for by everyone who has come to believe this promise of Jesus and whose faith ensures they too will see him.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, his rising from the dead is without a doubt the most important event in the history of humankind; death does not have the final word, and all who believe in Jesus as the Son of God will have life eternal, by the grace of God.  And this is just too important to keep to oneself.  Mark may have left his gospel rather open-ended, but there is no way we are going to let terror or amazement keep is from telling the world that; Alleluia, Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed, Alleluia! 

For we do believe and have faith in the promise that Jesus made, and we too have seen the risen Christ.  Every time a hungry person is fed, the promise of Jesus to go ahead of us is kept.  Each time shelter is provided, whenever a child is clothed, Christ’s promise that we will see him is fulfilled.  Whenever we find ourselves in service to others we are responding to Christ’s promise that he goes ahead of us and that he meets us wherever we go.  And whenever Jesus presents us with the opportunity to serve, that is when we are invited to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel of the risen Christ.  Mark may have ended his gospel with a cliffhanger, not revealing how the story of the resurrection unfolds.  But we know how it ends, we have seen the risen Christ in the face of everyone we encounter who is in any need.  Jesus has gone ahead of us and he will meet us where we are, in far-off Galilee or right here in Quinsigamond Village.  And whenever we act in imitation of him, unlike the women who fled from the tomb, telling no one, we shout at the top of our lungs, Alleluia, Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed, Alleluia! 

Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and holy God, we give you thanks for the life, death, and resurrection of your Son, Jesus.  Help us to trust the promises he made to us.  Bless us with a sense of the renewal of the world that is brought about by his rising on Easter morning.  And we pray these things in the name of Christ Jesus, the One who goes before us to Galilee, and the One who meets us here.     Amen.

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is Good.  Amen.