Easter Sunday
April 24, 2011
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
So now what are we going to do?
We don’t normally use the gospel of Mark for Easter Service, but some of you may have figured out by now I am not normal. I like to shake things up a little.
In this mornings reading Mary, Mary and Salome go to anoint the body of Jesus. When they arrive they see that the stone has already been rolled away. As they enter the tomb they see a young man dressed in a white robe and he tells them, “Do not be alarmed! Jesus has been raised! Now go and tell the disciples to return to their home in Galilee. There you will see him!”
Then comes the shocker of the Easter Resurrection story because it says, “So 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.”
Here ends the gospel of Mark! Right here! The very first gospel written ends right here with they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. We know it originally stops here because basically all the early manuscripts they have found end at this point.
Well, even the earliest Christian seemed to be unhappy with the way Mark wrapped up his story of the Life/Death and Resurrection of Jesus. There’s got to be more. After all, they must have eventually gone home and shared the good new, because Christianity grew like a wild flower. So later they took additional stories from other accounts and added them to his version to make Mark a little more user friendly.
However, I feel the entire story told in Mark is the one that not only tells the truth plainly about the Life/Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, it shows us clearly our human nature and it ends by asking each of us a very important question, “So now what are you going to do?”
So this Easter morning, we are going to take a closer look at this strange gospel and learn that it is truly the greatest story ever told—because He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!
To begin with the writer of Mark is not really interested in our other big Christian holiday—Christmas. There is no mention whatsoever of the birth of the baby Jesus. Here in Mark the story begins with Jesus being baptized and named as the Son of the Most High and Living God. Then we are told to listen to him.
From here Jesus gathers together twelve disciples.
Followers it seems he could have chosen from a better lot—non-religious uneducated simple fisherman—and tax collectors.
With this group Jesus heads out on a mission leading to the Cross.
He’s teaching that the Kingdom of God is Near.
A kingdom where there is really only two commands, “Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself.” Not really rocket science.
Jesus heals those who are sick—the lepers, the lame, the blind. He drives out evil spirits. He feeds 5000 with a couple loaves of bread and a few fish. He walks on water and calms the wind and sea.
Yet through all of this in the gospel of Mark the disciple have no clue whatsoever what in the world is going on. Truthfully, they seem oblivious to fact that this person is truly the Son of God.
To make matters worse, when Jesus does heal the sick or performs one of these great miracles his ask that they tell no one, in order that he may continue his ministry, and of course you can figure out what they do? They go against what Jesus asks of them and go and tell everyone.
During Holy Week every single one of these followers abandon Jesus—one of them actually betrays him. At the foot of the Cross, there’s not one single disciple who shows up even though he died for them. The only being that recognizes Jesus for who he truly is in the story of Mark are the demons and finally in the very end—the Roman Centurion—who nails Jesus to the Cross.
And as we heard in this mornings reading it was only three women who visit the tomb and when they find out he is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! The text tells us they say nothing to anyone because they were afraid. And folks here ends the gospel of Mark!
Maybe you too feel this may not be the appropriate story to tell on Easter Sunday but like I said, Mark is the one story that not only tells the truth plainly about the Life/Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, it shows us clearly our human nature and it ends by asking each of us a very important question, “So now what are you going to do?”
A young man who had a very rich father was getting married. The groom and the bride to be were anxiously awaiting for the wonderful wedding present they would receive from the wealthy father. Yet when they open the present all they saw was the Holy Bible. The son was furious. He toss that book aside and totally ignored the father for years. Sure the father tried his hardest to get in touch with the son to see how the liked his gift, but none of the calls or letters were return.
Sadly not too long after the wedding, the father died. The son was now devastated for ignoring his dad. As he sifted through all the memorabilia he found that Holy Bible given to him at his wedding. He opened it up for the very first time and inside he found a cashier’s check in the amount of $1,000,000 for a brand new home.
Folks what we find inside this Holy Book is the Greatest gift given to the world. Through the power of a simple empty tomb our wealthy heavenly father has given us a great fortune that leads us to an eternal home.
Sometime we may tend to think that because we are so far removed from the time Christ lived, died and rose that we are at a disadvantage. Yet we are no different than that group of misfits chosen to follow.
We too have been baptized and told to listen to his words. “Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
We have probably even seen more miracles that the disciples in Mark. We have witnessed first had what God can do in the world when disaster strikes. We have seen how the church can feed the poor and clothe the naked. We have even seen the lame walk, the blind see and dying brought back to life.
Heck we might even have a leg up. We know things that the disciples did not because of this book our Dad has given us as wedding present. We are told in the very first line of the gospel of Mark that this is, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!”
The apostle Paul never met the earthly Jesus and still he writes, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to those who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
That is what I call a wonderful wedding gift from a very rich Father. Yet we know the story and yet still sometimes we seem oblivious to the fact that this person is truly the Son of God. When Jesus tells us to keep quite we blab. When are instructed to share with others the Good News we say nothing. We betray Jesus by living our lives as if he never even existed. And we don’t even show up even at the empty tomb that we as Christians celebrate each and every Sunday.
Even though, even though it is for you that God Almighty sent his only begotten Son and the Life/Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus took place.
Yet today, right here and now, we can turn this whole thing around. Remember in the gospel of Mark, Mary, and Salome never do physically encounter the Risen Christ on that day, only a man who tells them He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed.”
And even though the text ends by telling us they went away and said nothing to anyone because they were afraid, we know that that is not the end of the story, because here we are today.
They overcame that fear and doubt and returned to their home in Galilee and told everyone they could find this wonderful story of God’s love for a bunch of misfits.
And there they finally encountered the Risen Lord.
So now what are you doing to do? Sure we are sometimes afraid and have our doubts, that is only natural. But can we return home and share the greatest news in the history of the world that the judge of the living and dead is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
