I confess that I
am disappointed with the gospel reading of the resurrection. Why am I disappointed? Because Jesus, the main character, doesn’t
ever appear! This story is about him,
after all, and we’re at the climax of it – but no Jesus! Several women who followed Jesus are in the
story. These two mysterious men in the
tomb are in the story. Peter gets a
shout out, and the disciples are in the story too. The closest thing we get to having Jesus is
an empty tomb.
Of course I can’t
change the past, and I didn’t get to do things my way, but if I did get to do
things my way I’d have Jesus’ resurrection be something like those old TV commercials
for Snickers candy bars. Picture
this: The women are hurrying to the tomb
on a bright and sunny Sunday morning.
They’re carrying all the spices they planned to use to anoint
Jesus. And since it’s a commercial,
let’s have Jesus and the women all be portrayed by supermodels. As the women approach the tomb, which is in a
perfectly manicured garden, we see the confusion and surprise on their faces as
they see the stone rolled back. There is
a pause. Then as they tentatively enter
the tomb we don’t have two unnamed men in there, we have Jesus himself. He’s dressed in a perfect white robe. He’s standing and casually leaning back
against the stone shelf on which his body was laid. He has a smile on his face, and in one hand
he’s holding up a partially unwrapped Snickers candy bar; with one bite taken
out of it. Keeping the smile on his face
he says, “Being resurrected sure works up an appetite. Packed with peanuts, Snickers really
satisfies!”
My version is
stupid, I know that, but keep that stupid image in mind and consider what has
really happened in Luke’s gospel.
If you’ve been worshipping with us
since we began reading Luke last December you’ll know that in Chapter 1 Luke
give us the back story of several of the characters. Then in Chapter 2 Jesus is born! From there on it’s pretty much all about
him. We get to see his parents take him
to the temple when he is eight days old.
Luke tells the story of his childhood when his parents accidentally
leave him behind on a trip to Jerusalem.
The beginning of the scene of Jesus’ baptism is all about John the
Baptist but that’s still pointing to Jesus.
Then Jesus’ public ministry begins and he not only present but front and
center in absolutely every scene.
Matthew and Mark, the other two
gospels who tell the story of Jesus from the same point of view as Luke (John’s
gospel takes a totally different approach) both have asides along the way or
scenes where Jesus isn’t present. The
most notable scene is the execution of John the Baptist. Luke, however, never takes the camera off
Jesus. Even in the scene where Peter
denies Jesus three times Jesus is present and sees Peter!
Again, after Jesus is baptized there
is not one single scene in Luke’s entire gospel where Jesus is not front and
center.
And then there’s the
resurrection. We’re at the triumphal
climax of the story and the main character isn’t anywhere to be found!
If we read on we have the famous Road
to Emmaus story. That takes place Easter
evening. Jesus is in that. And he’s also in every story to the end of
the gospel; but not here.
In my fictitious version of the
resurrection Jesus would be front and center.
I’d even make it a multi-sponsor commercial. I’d make sure the camera caught a glimpse of
the Nike swoosh on his sandals, and after the women greet Jesus they’d all pull
out their iphones and snap selfies, which they’d immediately post to Instagram
with the caption, “Look who’s been resurrected!”
But none of that is possible with an
empty tomb.
My version of the resurrection would
indeed be a happy one, but it would be a limiting one. It would be holding Jesus back into what I want him to be, someone to suit my needs. He’d really be no different than a product
sponsor who could be used to make money.
He be a famous person I could take a selfie with and proudly show to all
my friends that I had met Jesus. Jesus
at the tomb would be all about me.
But the empty tomb is a totally
different story. It is a story with no
limits, no boundaries. There are no
controls. It is a scene of limitless
possibilities; and absolutely no possibility of being about me – my wants, my
needs, my desires.
And let’s make sure we notice one very
important detail. Why was the stone
rolled back? Was it rolled back to let
Jesus out, or to let the women in? It
was rolled back to let the women -and us- in.
As the story goes on we discover that
the resurrected Jesus is no ghost. He’s
solid. He’s real flesh and blood. He meets people. He talks to them. He shows the disciples the wounds in his
body. He eats with them. His presence is no dream or illusion. Yet at the same time he comes and goes
without any regard for the laws of physics.
There’s something about his resurrected reality that just isn’t bound by
limits and rules.
Jesus did not need that stone to be rolled
back in order to get out of the tomb.
The stone needed to be rolled back so the women could get inside it;
inside it and find it empty – so the story could reach its climax and have no
Jesus!
Jesus is present among us. He does meet us in our needs and
troubles. But Jesus’ resurrection does
not mean the story continues as it did before.
Jesus’ resurrection is not about helping us to live our own lives in our
own ways and on our old trajectories.
Jesus’ resurrection is about opening us to new possibilities. In fact, opening us to the impossible!
On Friday, with the crucifixion, the
religious establishment in Jerusalem thought they had done away with this
troublesome Jesus fellow who’d come from the rural north with a rag tag bunch
of disciples, and the charisma to whip up a crowd. For the religious leaders now the threat was
dealt with. Problem solved! It was time to go back to religion as usual:
services,
sacrifices,
debates over the law,
alms for the poor.
This was all the stuff that had been doing for ages and knew how
to do well.
But the tomb was empty! Jesus will not be confined. He will not be confined to:
the traditional,
the safe,
and the predictable.
There is no knowing where this story is going to go when we have
an empty tomb!
For many Easter is a lot like the
religious leaders that Passover so many years ago. It is a holiday time. It’s school break week so many people have
gone on vacations or visited family.
There are traditions to uphold.
Even now all over this nation there are hams in ovens, and scalloped
potatoes too, cooking in preparation for Easter dinner. Perhaps you are looking at your watch and
hoping the service will end on time.
Perhaps you are anxious that something in Easter dinner will not be
fully cooked, or perhaps overcooked. Or
if you’re eating in a restaurant you hope the wait won’t be too long or that
the reservation is set.
And with Easter there are decorations,
and flowers, and Easter egg hunts.
Perhaps there aren’t Snickers candy bars as a part of your Easter but
there may be Easter baskets with chocolate rabbits, peanut butter eggs -my
favorite-, and jelly beans.
In time it will all be eaten. The dirty dishes will be washed. The visits and vacations will end. The decorations will be put away. The blooms on the Easter flowers will
wilt. And like the religious leaders, it
will be time to get back to the usual: work,
school,
paying bills,
running the kids and grandkids to all their activities,
mowing the lawn…
and on and on goes the list.
But the tomb was empty. The anointing the women expected to do never ever
happened. The Easter story leaves us
with possibilities; and no way to create limits.
Easter is about God doing something
new; forever something new. So let us
not return to the “normal” and expect to find Jesus there. The two mysterious men at the tomb told the
women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised. Remember… he is going ahead of you…”
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