“The Stunning Reality of Resurrection”

Mark 16:1-8

Read Mark 16:6 (Barclay): “There is no need to be surprised,” [the young man in white] said to them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! Look! There is the place where they laid him.”

[Prayer]

A man, having had his first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, responded by saying, “Something must have happened here.” When she was eleven my daughter was even less enchanted by the experience. After she got back from a cross-country trip, I asked her what the Grand Canyon was like. Her rather blase answer was, “It’s just a big hole in the ground.”

I’m still overwhelmed by the vastness of the ocean. My response to it is akin to the one I had the first time I saw the Rocky Mountains. I was stunned by their sheer magnificence. I haven’t seen them since 1988, but if I ever see them again, I suspect that my reaction will not have changed much.

If, however, I lived every day of my life by the shore, after a while the ocean would become just another part of the scenery. If I saw the Grand Canyon every few days, I’d soon come to think of it as no more than a big hole in the ground. And I have to confess that after I had lived in Colorado a few months, took the Rockies for granted.

The most stunning event in history was the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was the mightiest of God’s mighty acts. It is the cornerstone of our faith: no resurrection, no Christianity. Paul preached Christ, and Christ crucified. The mysteries of Incarnation and Atonement are absolute truths of our faith. But the Resurrection is the one absolute truth without which there could be no other truths.

The Resurrection. Not even the repressive might of the Soviet Union could stop the Russian people from celebrating Easter. The Resurrection. On this highest of all our high and holy days more people come to church than on any other Sunday. The Resurrection. Something about it brings the church’s prodigal children home, at least for a day. The Resurrection. This is probably the day when those seeking Jesus will most likely come take a peek at this thing called the Christian faith. The Resurrection. The event that brought a sudden end to the Devil’s Saturday night victory party.

Given all that, have we become blasé with regard to the truth of the Resurrection? While we can all say about it what that man said about the Grand Canyon – “Something must have happened here” – does the Good News about the Resurrection still have the power to stun us, awe us, overwhelm us, maybe even frighten us a little bit? Are we still liable to respond to the angelic message that he is risen, he is not here, as did those three women in this morning’s Gospel text?

They were mystified and alarmed by the empty tomb. The presence of a divine messenger stunned them into silence. They were terrorized and amazed all at the same time. They ran away. Even though the angel had commanded them to go and share the news, they were too frightened to do so. Something most definitely had happened here, but they had not yet physically, emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually assimilated it.

They had seen their Master die and be placed in a tomb. They were in mourning. They had come to honor Jesus one final time by anointing his body. They were ready to weep. They were prepared to grieve. They were of a mind to do what they had come to do and then walk away from that tomb, carrying with them only their precious memories.

They weren’t prepared for the Resurrection. It was the last thing on their minds. Their major concern was finding someone to roll the stone back so that they could enter the tomb and be about their business.

And then they encountered an empty tomb. Then they were confronted by a reality so awesomely unreal that they could only run from it. It was that powerful. It was beyond their ability to describe. What words could explain what they had seen? At the moment, none.

Almost 2000 years later we’re still confronted by the reality of the empty tomb. God’s Word tells us that Jesus is risen. The history and theology of our faith reaffirm that reality. When we affirmed our faith earlier we said that we believed that “the third day he arose from the dead.” We know this to be true. The very reason that we are here today is that this truth is burned into our hearts, minds, and souls.

But is it a truth that has become too familiar, so familiar that it no longer excites us? Are we still capable of being stunned by the reality of the Resurrection? Does it have the power to overcome our grief, heal our aching hearts, and banish the world’s darkness? If not, maybe we need to step back and take a real good look into that empty tomb. Maybe we need to put ourselves in the place of the two Marys and Salome. Maybe we need to hear God’s Word for what it is - a divine message. Maybe we need to be stunned into a silence so complete that we can once again comprehend the awesomeness of the Resurrection, or better yet, be mystified once again by its incomprehensibility.

And maybe, just maybe, this morning, when we speak again the words “He is risen!” they will have the power to stop us in our tracks, bring us to a moment of inner silence, and send us out to share with the world the indescribably wonderful news that, “He is risen, indeed!” Amen.