On A Morning Like This

ON A MORNING LIKE THIS—Mark 16:1-8

“In the sky the song of the skylark greets the dawn in the fields wet with dew

The scent of the violets fills the air on such a lovely morning as this

Surely on such a lovely morning as this Lord Jesus came forth from the tomb.”

John Carden, A Procession of Prayers

“On such a lovely morning as this…”

Easter has become a celebration of spring: Days are longer, the grass is greening, leaves are popping out on the trees, and flowers bring color back into the world.

So, on that first Easter, the women came to the tomb, wearing their Easter outfits, carrying Easter baskets filled with chocolate bunnies and marshmallow eggs.

NOT! On that first Easter morning, three women who had followed Jesus got up early, to go to a tomb just outside of Jerusalem. There was Mary Magdalene, who knew the face of evil personally until Jesus cast out her demons. There was another Mary, the mother of the disciple James the Less, who followed Jesus with her son. Then there was Salome, the mother of James and John (the Sons of Thunder), who had big hopes and dreams for her sons, when Jesus would set up his kingdom in Jerusalem.

“On a morning like this…” What kind of morning was it?

On Friday of that week, their hopes and dreams, their very lives, fell apart when Jesus took his last breath on the cross. On Saturday, when the sun had gone down and the Sabbath was over, the women risked their safety to go out into the darkness, to buy burial spices. Early Sunday morning, with their tears no longer flowing, they went sadly to the tomb, hoping the body wouldn’t stink too much when put the spices around the body. They were helpless and alone, as they couldn’t even find a man or two to roll the heavy stone away from the entrance to the hillside grave.

On that not-so-lovely morning, they were preparing to say a final goodbye to Jesus—and not just to Jesus, but goodbye to their hopes and dreams.

“On a morning like this…” What kind of morning is this—this Easter morning?

On this Easter morning, some worship in war zones, where constant anxiety hangs in the air. Some are forced to gather secretly in homes, fearing for their lives or freedom. Some find themselves under overpasses, homeless and despairing. “On such a lovely morning as this…”? Maybe not so lovely!

Many are in church today, but some are sitting with their husband or wife (or not), and wondering, “Where do we go from here? Is there any hope for us?”

Some are looking over at the kids, thinking, “What do we do? We didn’t think it would be this hard! How do we raise kids in a world like this?”

Some are overwhelmed by stress and pressure: debt, work, or trying to find time to fit it all in.

Some are fighting depression, or wracked by guilt, or feeling lonely and out of place.

Others have the world by the tail: Their lives really are filled with sunshine and birds and flowers—for now. But is this “it”? Is this what all that life is meant to be?

“On a morning like this…Jesus came forth from the tomb.”

We know how the story goes, don’t we?

The women come to the tomb, and they are thrilled to see that stone has been rolled away. A glorious, shining angel appears, to say, “Don’t be afraid. Jesus is alive!” Then, there appears a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest…” (Oops—That was Christmas.) The angel says, “Go tell his disciples.” The disciples are immediately thrilled to hear that Jesus is alive! Everyone sings: “Alleluia!” Then they all go home and color Easter eggs, and eat Easter ham.

But that is not how the story goes in the gospel of Mark!

Read Mark 16:4-5. They were “alarmed”! Of course they were! The tomb was wide open, Jesus’ body was gone, and only a young man dressed in a white robe was there. What was going on? Where was the body? They certainly didn’t expect that Jesus would rise from the dead, or they wouldn’t have brought the spices, and worried about rolling the stone away.

The young man, who didn’t look much like an angel in a movie, had an incredible message for them: “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

That was great news, but was it true? Could they believe it?

The women reacted like most of us would have reacted. Read Mark 16:8. They were “trembling…bewildered…afraid.” How could they not be? They didn’t know the young messenger, they hadn’t seen Jesus yet, and they had no way of knowing that Jesus was really alive, as the man said.