Happy Day of Resurrection - the mystery that defines us as followers of Jesus. As Episcopalians, we don’t try to resolve this mystery; we simply enter it and let God do Their work in us. This is the benefit of our commitment to taking the Bible seriously, but not literally.
If we’re going to enter a mystery, the mystical writing of John is the go-to gospel. John uses so much symbolic language, quietly referencing the foundations of the faith of his listeners. For example, John’s story begins with: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark… pointing to the creation story in Genesis, when on the first day the breath of God brought order to the chaos of the formless void saying, “Let there be light.” (1:1)
In John’s gospel, Mary Magdalene goes alone to the tomb and sees the stone rolled away. Her perception of what must be happening comes from an earthly perspective. A dead man’s body is missing from its tomb. Someone must have taken it.
Mary runs to tell Peter and another disciple. The identity of this second person isn’t known. What is known is that for testimony to have credibility in that time, there had to be two male witnesses, which John has included.
Noting that the two men didn’t understand, John simply says they returned to their homes. This always seems like such a flat ending to an exciting moment, but I think it’s because what John is focusing on is how each of our paths to the birth of our faith is different.
What’s true for every path to God is that God provides us with what we need to get there - in God’s time.
The other disciple, the beloved one, believed upon seeing the linens. The word John uses there means self-surrender. When the other disciple let go of his own way of understanding, his faith was born.
John then skips past Peter, and moves to Mary Magdalene, who remained grieving at the tomb after the two men had gone home. Mary looks into the tomb, which she knows is empty, and sees two angels in white.
This detail is important because it isn’t about the color of their robes. The word John uses there means emitting light, brilliant, glittering. These aren’t earthly beings, and they point back to the cherubim at the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus. (25:18) In John’s telling of this story, these glittering angels are what God provided Mary to lead her to the birth of her faith.
While she is speaking with these angels, Mary’s earthly eyes see a man. She sees but doesn’t comprehend until, by the utterance of a divine word (think Word of God and God speaking creation into being), Mary’s eyes are opened; and the word Jesus uses is her name. This points to Jesus’ previous teaching that he is the Good Shepherd: I know my own and my own know me. (Jn 10:14)
The next statement by John is remarkable: “She turned and said in Hebrew, Rabbouni.’ The word John uses for ‘turned’ means convert, or change oneself. Mary chose to be converted, to be changed.
We can almost share in her excitement and picture ourselves hugging Jesus in that joyful moment, but John doesn’t say Mary did that. He simply says that upon seeing her conversion, Jesus says to her: Don’t hold onto me… the words John uses mean, don’t put one thing to another, don’t connect with me as you remember me because I’m not finished. The Greek word here is talking about an event in progress.
Then Jesus tells Mary, “Go to my kin and tell them I am ascending to my nourisher, protector, and upholder, who is your nourisher, protector and upholder; to my source, my progenitor, who is your source, your progenitor.
By this, John has Jesus ordaining Mary as the first person sent to tell the Good News of his resurrection. She is the apostle, that is, one who is sent, to the apostles.
Our story today ends with Mary going to the others, telling them what Jesus told her. The Scripture then continues telling the story of the birth of faith for all of the disciples through the resurrection appearances and on into the Acts of the Apostles.
The birth of faith is different for all of us, and is accomplished in God’s way and in God’s time. Thomas, the Twin, can’t believe without proof, and he gets it. Peter, thank God for Peter, takes longer, as we see from the story in the reading from Acts, but God provides Peter what he needs when the time is right.
In the meantime, Peter, who is praying, enters a trance and sees a vision of creatures of all kinds. Peter is told to eat, but that would violate Jewish kosher laws, so he resists. A divine voice says to him, ”What I have made clean you must not profane.” This event marks the birth of Peter’s faith.
When brought to Cornelius, this transformation in Peter is expressed in his sermon to Cornelius’ household: “"I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him…” and Peter goes on to tell the story of salvation in Jesus Christ. This marks the birth of their faith.
We are the descendants of this story and this process. Each of us is on a path to the birth of our faith or the living out of that faith. All of us are acceptable to God who provides us what we need - in God’s time - so we don’t judge. This isn’t a race.
Today, we celebrate that Jesus’ resurrection means death, what Paul calls the last enemy, has been defeated. God, who is Love, is the final word. God is our source, our nourisher, our protector, and upholder. There is, therefore, no person, no system, no event to fear, because we have been set free from the power of all who would disturb our connection with God. Not even death, can do that. As the Psalmist says, “I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”
We are Jesus’ kin, current bearers of the breath of God meant to bring peace to the chaos of the world. God’s own light emanates through us into the darkness of the world. “On this day the Lord has acted”... we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment