This is Easter morning. Hallelujah! The ordeal of death is over and new life has sprung up from the grave. I think it is very apt that Easter is always in the Spring because no other season in my opinion, points to the outburst of new life in the way that Spring does. Spring is symbolic of new life and renewal.
In our text for today the writer Luke takes us to the happening on the first day of the new week over two thousand years ago in just outside Jerusalem where some women are heading to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. As far as they are concerned, he is well and truly gone and all they want to do is carry out the burial custom which was not completed as was required because his body was taken from the cross and hastily buried just before the beginning of the Sabbath on Friday evening. It was the custom to prepare the body for its burial through the application of spices and ointments. Jesus,’ body was not prepared in this way before his burial because of the haste to bury him before the Sabbath. Also, the bodies could not remain on the cross during the Sabbath and no preparation of the bodies could be done during the Sabbath.
So the women are heading off with great anticipation for this opportunity to do for their Lord what they had no chance to do before. They are also in grief. It is with mixed emotions therefore that they are journeying to the tomb. However, they have not asked any of the male disciples to come along with them. Hence, they are now wondering who will roll the stone away for them. As they arrive, an unusual sight meets them. I can imagine how surprised or even frightened they would have been to notice that the gravestone was already rolled away. ‘What is happening here?’ they might have asked one another. Then as they boldly went in, they saw two significant things. First, there was no body in the grave. Secondly, two men in gleaming white suddenly appeared beside them. Still reeling from the shock of what they have just observed, it must have been even more shocking to hear the two men in white ask, “Why look for the living among the dead?” Then in the same breath they utter the words that would ring throughout history, the words that became central to the new way, “He is not here. He has risen!”
As we contemplate how those women must have felt as they heard the news that early morning of the first Easter, we can reflect on these few points as we examine our own response and appreciation for this glorious history-changing event.
- The good news of the resurrection was first given to persons who were among the least important in society.
We cannot help but notice the role of women in the resurrection story. All four gospels state that women were the first to hear of the resurrection of Jesus which suggests that there is great credibility in the evidence of their testimony. This is to be noted bearing in mind that these women lived at a time when the culture did not place women highly in the social structure of the time. It was a patriarchal society and as such the testimony of women especially women who were lowly in society would not have been taken seriously. You may notice later in the text where it was noted that the rest of the disciples did not believe the women. They thought they were talking nonsense. (See verse 11) The position of the women here can be a symbol to us of the priority of place that Jesus has always had for those who could be considered to be on the lower rung of society. In Jesus’ day, women as well as children, tax collectors, Samaritans, prostitutes, Gentiles and many others whose behaviors were considered worthy of being shunned, made up the lower part of the society and were always treated inferior to men and the religious leaders of the day. The resurrection narrative unmistakably gives a nod to all of those in society who are the marginalised and the outcasts or who are considered to be at the lower rung of the society, that they are indeed God’s priority over those who are of noble birth or of great wealth are famous or popular, are high achievers and of course the men and religious leaders. If you are from a grouping in society whether because of your race or ethnic background, your educational level, your family background, your income level, your gender or your religious choice or simply your native heritage, that others consider to be of a lower class or of less importance in society, you can see this resurrection story as belonging to you in a special way because Jesus’ birth and resurrection prioritised the importance of those who were considered lowly, insignificant and unimportant in the social hierarchy. The beauty and potency of Luke’s gospel is that he more than any other showed Jesus’ interest and love for those who are normally sidelined or ignored because of their perceived lowly status in society.
- Stop looking in the tomb because life exists outside of it.
Another symbolic consideration from the resurrection account which we should all take, points to our own life journey. The tomb or the grave symbolises what is done, what no longer exists, what is the past. Jesus therefore could no longer remain in the tomb because he points to new life, new beginnings and a new hope in God. The women went early in the morning to look into the tomb for a dead body. They were caught up in the past when new life had already burst from that grave. You can’t entirely blame them. That’s all they knew. However, one might say that they should have remembered Jesus’ own words to the disciples that he would rise again on the third day. The angel pointed out to the women something that they all knew and should have remembered when he said, “Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” (See St. Luke 24:7 NIV) One can hardly blame the women however because it is known that grief causes us to react in many unaccustomed ways including making some people forgetful. The bigger point though is that in our sorrow or when we are facing the worst times in our lives, we often see the tomb before us and not the life that exists beyond it. Sometimes our pain, our tears and our heartache blinds us from seeing what is possible beyond that stage of our lives. We get caught up in the past, and on those things which should remain buried and so we cannot see the hope that exists if we simply look beyond the experiences in our lives that are symbolic of the grave. We all have life experiences that are to be entombed but some of us cannot leave them behind. We still visit those experiences as shrines that we want to maintain when we should be discarding them or leaving them to the past. It could be a relationship that has outlived its time and purpose. It could be a possession that we need to discard. It could be a behaviour or lifestyle that should be long discarded but we are still captive to it. It could be a valued possession such as a house or a car or perhaps even a job that is doing nothing for you and is hampering your growth and the opportunity to see new things and to experience new things. Today symbolises for us a release from the grave psychologically and spiritually, of all the things and people and experiences that have been holding us down and the need to embrace newness, healing, restoration and the new life which God has made possible to all humanity. Let’s use the time to look at those things in our lives that should remain in the grave of our history and seek after the new things that God is offering to us all.
- The good news of the resurrection is to be shared to all whom we meet.
You may notice that the disciples after becoming convinced of the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, even without seeing him yet, began to spread the word within their community and doubtlessly, everywhere to all who would listen to them. It must have been a very brave thing to do. First of all, the crucifixion had just happened less than a week earlier and so the tension and fear would be still very rife in the areas around. Secondly, it did seem so crazy and unbelievable that many people perhaps just laughed at them or ridiculed them or got really angry at them for wishing the past to be reality again. These disciples would have had a lot of negative vibes coming their way as they spread the news but they knew and felt deeply that it was imperative of them to do so. It was practically their duty to spread the word.
Today, the rising from the grave of our Lord is still seen as incredible in many places and many still see this foundational Christian belief, as people did in the first century, to be a scam or a hoax or purely wishful thinking. It was the serious determination and passion of those disciples and later Christians that would convince millions of people that something did happen. This was no hoax. This was no pretense. Jesus did rise from the grave. Our determination and passion to spread this news and to live lives that demonstrate our conviction and devotion to the risen Christ is what we have to show the world that this is a serious matter. The good news of the resurrection must be shared by all who say they believe it and it must be shared in a convincing manner that shows our belief and commitment to what the resurrection means for us all. It means simply that God has given the hope of new life to all who will accept it. This life is through a relationship with Jesus as Saviour and Lord of our lives. We must tell it and we must live it so that others can see the transformation of human lives and by extension the world that is only possible through a life lived in commitment to God through the saving work of Jesus. Undoubtedly, we will have detractors and many who will never believe our message but we must spread the message all the same because Jesus lives and reigns forever and that is what the world needs to hear right now especially in these times. May God give us the courage as those first disciples had, to spread the word of Jesus’ resurrection and to live the life that convinces others of the good news that we are a people of hope, a people who are living into the new life, life eternal, which God has made available for all through the death and resurrection of Jesus his son.
I will end by sharing the words of the refrain from a song I learnt many years ago that still resonates with me around this time which says, “He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and he talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart.”*1
That must have been the message of the first disciples to the world then and this must be our message to the world today. Amen.
*1 From the song, ‘I Serve A Risen Savior’ written by Alfred Henry Ackley (1887-1960) Copyright 1933 Renewed 1961 Word Music, LLC.
