To Galilee!
Resolve the Chord
Mark 16:1-8
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. March 31st, 2024
Mark’s Gospel ends on a very discordant note, and waits for us to resolve it. Early in the morning, as the Sun is beginning to rise, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome make their way to the tomb with spices so that they might prepare Jesus’ body for burial. Jesus died late on a Friday afternoon, meaning there was only time to put him in the tomb before the Sun set and the Sabbath began. Now they could complete his burial, and say their final goodbyes.
They wondered how they might roll away the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb. Would someone be there to roll it away for them? But when they arrive in the cold morning they notice, to their shock, that the stone had already been rolled away. They entered the tomb to see a young man in a white robe seated on the right side. But there was no body. It was all very bewildering.
The man, the angel, tells them that they shouldn’t be afraid, Jesus is risen as he said, he is heading to Galilee just like he said, so let Peter and the others know so they can meet him there. But the angel does little to calm them down. Instead, they are beside themselves in terror and flee the tomb saying nothing to anyone. And that is the end of the scene, and most probably the end of the Gospel. No resurrection appearance. No proclamation of the good news. No joy. But terror and amazement. Bewilderment and silence.
Why this discordant note? The resurrection is the event of Christ’s victory over death. It is the good news. It is the Kingdom of God revealed in power. It is the assurance of our salvation, our future hope revealed in history. It is everything. How come the response of the women is bewilderment and silence?
Mark is not entirely unique when it comes to depicting the disciples as having odd responses to the resurrection. Luke recounts the disappointment of two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They know the report of the women that Jesus has been raised but it doesn’t bring them any joy. It only brings confusion. He was the one to redeem Israel, but he died and now he’s raised? What could that possibly mean? It takes the resurrected Jesus to point them to the scriptures and reveal to them the plan of God. John recounts that following their experience of the resurrection Peter and the others return to fishing. Which is an odd response to an epochal event. The Resurrection simply led to confusion, bewilderment, even fear among the disciples.
But perhaps this is just an example of the Bible’s realism. Put yourself in the women’s shoes, or sandals as it were. You’ve gone through the trauma of Good Friday, seeing your close friend dangling naked on a cross. You are only beginning to accept that Jesus is dead on Saturday. You are exhausted from weeping, that exhaustion being the closest thing to comfort. You may be beginning to resign yourself to the reality of this evil world’s injustice and barbarity. We might imagine you never had a chance to sleep that Saturday night, so numb from the grief you feel. But when the dawn breaks you make your way to the tomb and the rock is rolled away. The body is not there. A man says he is raised. But that does not happen. It could not happen. People die and that’s it. If it were the case that Jesus is risen then it means death has lost its sting. It means you have to have hope. It means that you live in a world where bodies are reknit. Where the dead come to life. Where resignation is foolhardy. Where the evil powers of this world can no longer hold sway over you. Because they’ve lost their best weapon: the grave.
It is so easy to exhaust yourself in resignation. There’s something paradoxically comforting in that. The pseudo-wisdom of the way of the world. Being able to say, “I told you so.” Cynically removing oneself from the pains of this world. But it is a lot harder to have hope. To accept that this great event has taken place. That everything, everything is different. That a new creation has begun.
The angel tells them to go back to Galilee to see Jesus. But they remain silent. Because they are afraid of these things that have taken place, and the possibilities it suggests. But we can respond to that call by going back to the beginning of the book. I said Mark ends on a discordant note and asks us to resolve it. We resolve the discordant note of Easter Sunday by meeting Jesus in Galilee. By returning to the gospels again and again to learn what it means to live in this new creation, in this hopeful reality, in a world where death does not have the final say and we may join our brother Jesus in the Resurrection of the dead.
Someone used to tell me that the resurrection happened in an instant and the sermon doesn’t need to be much longer. Yes. I can simply say “He is risen!” and sit down. But what do we make of that? To the first disciples that was a statement of bewilderment and fear. They trembled at the thought of all it might entail. We are given this life to learn what it means to live in a world where it happened once, and will happen again. To live as if we will be raised. To love knowing that love cannot be defeated. To not fear death, because death is not the end. We learn these things by returning to the beginning, by reading the story, by following Jesus in Galilee.