The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — Easter Sunday— with food for thought on the great Easter response to “He is Risen!” …. “What will we do next?” Gnaw away!

Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought perfumed oils so that they could anoint Jesus. Very early, just after sunrise on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they arrived, they found that the huge stone had been rolled back. On entering the tomb, they saw a young person sitting at the right, dressed in a white robe. They were frightened. But the youth reassured them, “Do not be amazed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. Now go and tell the disciples and Peter, ‘Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee, where you will see him, just as he told you.’” They made their way out and fled from the tomb bewildered and trembling; but they said nothing to anyone, because they were so afraid.

The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?
When we read this account of the Easter Gospel, we are probably struck most by how it ends — with the women fleeing in fear. Yet in some ways this is not surprising. The cross was a place of total abandonment for Jesus — particularly in Mark and Matthew’s accounts. When Jesus was crucified, his male disciples were long gone from the scene. Mark’s Gospel (the earliest of the synoptic accounts, from whom Matthew and Luke borrowed greatly), has the women not at the foot of the cross but “looking on from afar.” Jesus cries out “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” … “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is with deepest irony that the most unclean person on the scene — the Roman centurion — is the only one to stand with Jesus at the end, testifying “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

Fear surrounds all these events. Mark even notes that it “took courage” for Joseph of Arimathea to ask for Jesus’ body. So maybe it isn’t so surprising that despite the plea of the strange young man at the tomb “do not be amazed” — that terror, amazement and fear are still the order of the day. There is a stark reality to Mark’s Gospel that gives it great power. The Easter scene does not tie everything up nicely in a Hallmarkian package.

The Easter story only serves to say that — against all rational expectation — the Christ story is still not over. The question that remains is: “What comes next?”

A few things to chew on:

*”Now go and tell the disciples and Peter…” The young man doesn’t just say “Go, tell his disciples” but makes sure to add “and Peter.” Why? Wasn’t Peter one of the disciples? Peter’s inclusion by name is a power statement of Christ’s surpassing love. We last left Peter at the end of Mark 14, the rooster’s crow echoing in his ear and Peter collapsed in deep grief at his own denial of Christ. Peter said no to Jesus not one time but three times.

And yet the first message of the resurrection shows that Christ still says yes to Peter. As we walk to the cross this week and contemplate our own multiple denials of Christ, we can remember that on Easter morning, the call will come to us by name as well to be part of the resurrection.

*”He is going ahead of you to Galilee.” Where will they meet the resurrected Christ? Not on some new frontier. Not in a center of power like Jerusalem or Rome. But back home … back in the everydayness of their lives. Back in Galilee where they found him. As we give our lives to God in Christ and allow Christ to make us new … that is where we get sent as well. We get sent back into the everydayness of our lives. But we are sent back as different people with the opportunity to live differently. There is an old monk’s prayer, “Lord, do not change my circumstances, change me!”

Easter does not free us from the specific circumstances of our life … it sends us right back into the heart of them. But it sends us back as bearers of a new light and life … and with the opportunity to love the world from which we come with the love of Christ.

Try This:

There’s a danger of gnawing on the Easter Gospel all week … and that’s the danger of zooming straight to Easter Sunday and not truly walking together to the cross and tomb before we get there.

So this week, really walk through Holy Week … the whole week. You can go here and see the opportunities every day to walk every step of this journey in community together. Come sit at the Last Supper with Christ on Thursday. Come get down on the cross with Christ on Friday. And come hear the story of our salvation and move from darkness to light at the Great Vigil on Saturday night. And then come together Easter morning at 7, 9, 11:15 and 1 and sing Alleluia together.

Easter dawns more brightly when we allow ourselves to walk as Christ’s body through the darkness. This week, let’s do it all together.

“Oh @$*&@,
Christ is Risen!”

There’s a series of bumper stickers out there that proclaim “If you’re not outraged (or angry or confused), you’re not paying attention.”

Maybe those bumper stickers are a helpful lens through which to view the seemingly curious ending to Mark’s Easter story.

Terror and silence are not what we usually associate with Easter morning. But Mark’s Easter story not only ends with these things … it is likely the original writers ended Mark’s entire Gospel on this ominous note.

So what gives? We come together on Easter morning to sing “Alleluia!” Didn’t the women get the memo? Why respond in fear and silence to the resurrection?

Maybe it’s because Jesus doesn’t send them out from the empty tomb to go to Easter brunch! He sends them to take literally un-believable news to people who are hiding in fear … news that will mean that all of them will probably find themselves in more danger than they are already in.

He sends them back to Galilee … back to their old lives, but not to live their old lives but to live a new life that those whom were most dear to them will not only not embrace or understand, but be openly hostile to.

We think of Easter as “Alleluia, Christ is risen!” … but there is also a very real “Oh $@%^@$*@, Christ is risen!”

In a very real way, if we’re not frightened into silence … maybe we’re not paying attention.

The key question of Mark’s Easter story is “what will we do next?” And Mark leaves that as an open question. We are confronted with the wonder and terror of Easter, and like a child’s “choose your own adventure” book, we get to make the next call. Will we go back to Galilee? Will we stay in hiding?

How will we respond to this unprecedented news that changes everything … including and especially us? If there isn’t at least a little “Oh @&$(*#” mixed in with our “Alleluia” … then maybe we’re not paying close enough attention.
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Check out the rest of Sunday’s readings

The Lectionary Page has all of the readings for this Sunday and every Sunday – just click here.

Collect for Sunday

Pray this throughout the week as you gnaw on this Gospel: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Want to read more?
“The Text This Week” is an excellent online resource for anyone who wants to dive more deeply into the scriptures for the week.
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