“It Seemed to Be an Idle Tale”

Luke 24:1-12

A Homily for Easter Sunday

N. T. Wright has written the most amazing little book: “Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible Readings [for lectionary] Year C. In his very brief commentary on today’s text he described the first Easter morning and the resurrection of our Lord from the dead this way:

“The kingdom has arrived in an unready world, like grand guests stepping out of the Rolls-Royce to find the family having breakfast in [pajamas]… The women rushing around in the early morning, Peter scratching his head looking at empty grave-clothes, might well be puzzled: this was not part of the plan. They had thought Jesus’ language about his own dying, and rising again, to be a dark metaphor, indicating perhaps a great struggle against paganism or Israel’s current leaders, followed by a great victory. They had not reckoned with it being literal, or with the battle being waged against the last enemy, death itself. They were going to have to get used to living in a present which was shot through with God’s future, a world in which the continuing disjointedness of creation was to be seen as out of date, waiting to be brought into line with the future which had already begun to happen.”

They were going to have to get used to living in a present which was shot through with God’s future. In many ways the resurrection was an inconvenience to those first followers of Jesus. In their minds he was dead, not what they had wanted but a reality they had to face. They were sad and disappointed, maybe even feeling a bit betrayed. Whatever, their grand adventure with Jesus was over. It was time to go back home and pick up the pieces of their interrupted lives. Life must go on.

And it did, just not the way they expected it to. The women who went to the tomb early that first Easter morning were simply about the business of tying up loose ends. The Sabbath had interrupted their preparation of Jesus’ body for burial. Once they did that it would all be over. Jesus was dead. Jesus was gone. There was going to be no great earthly kingdom headquartered in Jerusalem. It was once again time to wait for the Messiah.

But their well laid plans were not carried out. The stone was rolled away from the front of Jesus’ tomb. His body was gone. They didn’t know what had happened. Maybe the Lord’s tomb had been the target of grave robbers. Maybe somebody was playing a cruel joke. Whatever, as the text puts it, they were perplexed. They were confused. Their simple morning plan had grown complicated. What to do?

Then two men in dazzling clothes – so says the text – appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Matthew says that it was only one guy there, and he was an angel. Mark says it was a young man in white clothing. In John’s Gospel it’s Jesus himself. Be that as it may, each of the Gospels is in agreement on the most important detail: the tomb was empty.

Moving on, the ladies were so terrified that they couldn’t even look at those guys. Then one of those guys asked the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Then the ladies were treated to a short Sunday school lesson: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

Their memories now sufficiently jogged the ladies – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and someone who shall remain anonymous – found the Apostles and told them all that they had seen and heard. The news was not well received. The modern translations politely tell us that the Apostles considered their report to be an idle tale. William Barclay’s translation pushes it a bit farther by calling the report just so much nonsense. But the Greek word is one often used to describe someone who is very ill. The women’s report was akin to the babblings of a fevered and insane mind. In other words, “Ladies, you’re out of your collective mind!”

Peter, crazy as he believed the story to be, got up and ran to the tomb, saw the empty grave-clothes, and went home amazed by what he had seen. I think Dr. Wright catches the flavor of his amazement by saying that he just stood there and scratched his head.

Later on they would figure it all out, but not without Jesus putting in a personal appearance. Only then did they believe that the four women really weren’t out of their minds. It really happened. Jesus really arose from the dead. He did what he said he was going to do. Finally they believed it. Finally the truth became clear. Their adventure with Jesus wasn’t near to being over. In some ways it was just beginning. It was time for them to pull up their big boy and big girl britches and get on with the work of Jesus.

What about us? How do we respond to an empty tomb and risen Lord? Do we truly believe it, or do we hedge our bets because deep down within us we still think it’s an idle tale, a fevered dream from which we will awake and be disappointed? What is going on here today? In the words of Eugene Peterson, “Is worship an actual meeting called to order at God’s initiative in which persons of faith are blessed by his presence and respond to his salvation? Or is it a pathetic, and sometimes desperate, charade in which people attempt to get God to pay attention to them and do something for them?”

What we are doing here today is not a charade. Nor is it pathetic and desperate. We are not caught up in some fever-induced dream. We are here to worship the Living God, to celebrate the reality of our risen Lord. We are here to witness to the fact that those four women who went to the tomb that first Easter morning were telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

We are here to act on faith to those words spoken by the two men in Jesus’ empty tomb: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Jesus’ tomb was and is empty. The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.