Reflection on Mark 16:1-8 (Easter Sunday)

 

Mark 16:1-8

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.

Reflection

“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” (NRSV, Mark 16:8).  And, that is how Mark’s gospel ends.  It ends in fear. 

On a day when we shout “Alleluia,” and sing loudly songs of joy to our triumphant Lord, Jesus Christ, who laughs in the face of those who put him in the ground, and who overcomes death itself…on a day like that, we have an Easter story that abruptly ends in fear.  Fear.  “They were afraid.”  It is a jolting reminder that even though Jesus overcomes sin and death for our sake, fear still shows up in our lives and causes us to flee, just as the women fled the tomb.

Maybe, it was the sight of the heavy stone, already rolled away from its resting place.  Maybe, they feared that their Lord’s body had been stolen from it resting place.

Maybe, it was the unexpected jump scare of the teenage boy, sitting in a tomb, dressed in white, which made them flee in fear.  Teenage boys can be very scary, and I know many young women who have run away from them.  I know.  I was one of those teenage boys. 

Maybe, it was the message itself, “he has been raised,” that has caused amazement and fear to overtake their hearts.  After-all, we have heard this story, many, many Easter mornings, but for these women, this is the first time they have encountered the idea that someone who is supposed to be dead, is not dead. 

After-all, the dead are supposed to stay dead.  That is the thing about them.  They do not come back.  Death gets the last word, always. 

What would they be like if they could come back, anyway?  Would they be horror shows with two legs?  Would their wounds still seeping blood?  And, how does reality work, anyway, if the dead do not stay dead?  How are enemies defeated if the dead do not stay dead?  How does life move forward if the dead do not stay dead.  There are too many questions, and the questions alone can send a person into a sleepless night of anxiety and fear.

The teenage boy says that Jesus did not stay dead; distorting the very reality that we have always known in a warped version of life that the human mind just cannot comprehend.

Maybe, it was that.  Or, maybe, the women run away in fear simply because the writer of Mark wants us to understand that fear is still a part of life, even after the promise of eternal life is shared.  Maybe, they run away in fear so that we do not feel so alone when we secretly harbor fear and doubt rather than trust. 

We fear the diagnosis.  We fear the next day after the terrible break up.  We fear what the world will look like after the disaster.  We fear it all, and we join the women in running away.  “No more,” we shout to the world.  “No more.”

But, where will we run?  Where are we to go?  Where are we ever to go?  And, what will we ever do once we are there?  Where are we to go where fear, uncertainty, and death still do not linger?

Remember that teenage messenger in white?  That heavenly presence has an answer for us. But, it is the sort of answer that you need to ponder.  It is the sort of answer that will only make sense after you run away, stop, sleep through the night, and consider all that happened as the events replay again and again in your head.  Here is what he said:

“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.  But 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” (Mark 16:6-7).

Joining the chorus of heavenly messengers throughout the ages, the messenger tells the women to not be terrified, because they clearly are.  Then he announces the amazing news that Jesus has been raised.  But, here is the promise whose meaning can only sink in after lots of reflection and sleepless nights, “he is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him” (Mark 16:7).

But, the meaning comes.  Wisdom comes in an instant, as wisdom usually does.  Suddenly you realize that if Jesus has risen, then Jesus can be found “ahead” of you, just as the messenger promises.  No matter where you end up after running away, you will still see Jesus.  “He is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him” (Mark 16:7).

Biblical scholar Audrey West remarks, “If that is true, then death is stripped of its power. There is nothing Jesus’ followers will endure, no place they can go, that Jesus isn’t already there.”

“I never realized that I would find Jesus,” the man remarked.  After losing a child way too early, the man was devastated.  He holed himself up in the attic, building long neglected airplane models in an attempt to get away from the world; to get away from the pain, and to build something in a world that was falling apart.  But, under the stack of models, he found a children’s Easter book.  He opened up the old book and instantly saw Jesus standing with the disciples as they were locked away in their own room, with pain and fear on their faces.  And, it was at that moment that the man realized that though he may have lost a child, he seemed to have gained Jesus, who, the story promised, was up in that attic of grief and pain with him.

“I may have lost a child, which I would wish on no one.  But, I never realized that I would find Jesus” the man said, with a newfound faith starting to stitch together his broken heart.  Jesus was there, in that attic, waiting, ahead of him.

That is what happens when Jesus goes ahead of you.  Wherever you go, Jesus is there.  Wherever you cry out in pain, Jesus is there.  Wherever you find yourself lost and all alone, you will discover that Jesus has already paved the way.  You will not be lost and alone for long.

It is the promise of the ancient funeral prayer that shouts, “We go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song:  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” 

Death cannot hold us down!  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!  Our desire to run away in fear is not the last word, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!  Jesus Christ is with you no matter where you go, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 

Into new and scary ventures in life, Jesus Christ is already there.  He is with you, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!   Facing the death of those we love, unable to figure out how to move forward, Jesus Christ is leading the way, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!  Learning to lead a new way of life when the old, destructive one must be abandoned, Jesus Christ is beckoning you forward right this instant, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 

“I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also,” Jesus declares to us in John 14:3 as he promises that he will always be ahead of us.  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 

So, no matter where we have run in fear, Jesus will be found right there, risen, full of life, and full of God’s redeeming love.  And, for that holy surprise in the face of fear, doubt, and pain, we shout: “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”