Resurrection Faith

I preached this sermon at the Isesaki Covenant Church on April 16, 2017, Easter Sunday.

Matthew 28:1-10

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection defies all common logic and was an inexplicable event, so for me to stand here in the pulpit and speak of it is in some ways just as unbelievable as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary hearing the angel speak of it. But they had felt the ground shake, whereas my sermon is in all likelihood not going to be accompanied by any earthquakes. Furthermore, they saw the stone being rolled back to reveal the empty grave; they actually saw the stone moving. And the angel’s clothing was glowing brightly, unlike the rather dark colored clothes I’m wearing today. But we can certainly attempt to picture these fantastic events in our mind’s eye. What’s different is the sense of reality… the women were reduced to fear and trembling, along with the soldiers guarding the tomb.

Actually there are numerous accounts of these events in the gospels, so each year when we celebrate Easter we read from one or another of these accounts. If you’ve ever sat down and compared all the different gospel accounts you’ve probably noticed that they vary in detail. It’s hard to harmonize all of them, difficult to figure out exactly what the sequence of events was, and especially hard to sort out exactly who saw what. But I would suggest that these accounts vary in ways that perhaps even strengthen their believability… clearly there is no editor in the background, making them all up to create a unified story. If you’ve ever heard multiple people recount a significant event and looked carefully at their description of events you’ve likely noticed that each person describes things a little differently. In fact, in a court of law if multiple witnesses say exactly the same thing their testimony is immediately called into question. Identical reports suggest that perhaps they have been told what to say, or have met with each other in advance and agreed to say exactly the same thing. The gospel accounts of encounters with the risen Christ all have slight differences, that seem to just make them that much more believable; that much more human and real.

In Matthew’s account that we’ve read today things start early. Mary and Mary went to the tomb at dawn… first thing, perhaps to avoid others, perhaps because they just couldn’t wait, perhaps because it marked the end of the Sabbath. Events quickly turn fantastic… earthquake, dazzling angel, tomb stone rolled back, angel sitting on the stone. He is glowing, perhaps with the first rays of the morning sun striking him on his high perch on the tomb stone. The guards pass out, almost like a scene from a movie but the two women are OK, although probably terribly frightened. But after what they had witnessed the day before, they were probably numb. The angel speaks words of assurance and even invites them into the tomb to confirm that it is empty but Matthew gives no details of what they saw inside. The angel instructs them to return to the disciples and pass on a message… the risen Christ is going to Galilee ahead of them. Going back to Galilee, back to his home town, and back to the territory of his disciples. Galilee was their base of operations for three years; the trip to Jerusalem was out of the ordinary. Now it was time to leave Jerusalem and go home. Mary and Mary leave with great fear and joy. Profoundly mixed emotions… trembling, probably crying and laughing at the same time… knowing only one thing for sure; their job was to go tell the others so they run! And yet their dash back to the others is interrupted by none other than Jesus himself. We don’t know if he was just outside the graveyard, or somewhere along the way but the point is that Jesus seeks them out and stops them to talk. They fall down at his feet, cling to him and worship him. This is the final confirmation for them, that the fantastic tale told to them by the dazzling one at the grave is true. What else could they do but fall at his feet and worship him. And yet their worship was clearly from hearts filled with fear. True worship always contains an element of fear… if we really believe God is in our midst, and if we truly believe that we are in the presence of God it feels like the ground beneath us is shaking! The risen Christ, the son of God, was standing before them, talking to them. It was terrifying! And yet it was genuine worship. They were also afraid of losing him again, so they clung to him. He tells them the same thing the angel did. Don’t be afraid. Go tell the others. I’m going ahead of them to Galilee and want to see them there. I don’t know the full significance of Jesus’ order of appearances, but can’t help but note that the women are given the first privilege of seeing the risen Christ. The men are told to wait until they return to Galilee in Matthew’s account.

Two thousand years have passed and this story is still just as unbelievable as it was when it happened. Stuff like that just doesn’t happen. The biblical accounts are stark and simple, but they obviously don’t convince everyone. And yet we place this event at the very center of our faith, our understanding of God’s plan for humanity, and our church calendar. The resurrection is what it’s all about. Perhaps the cross gets talked about more in some churches, but I would venture to say that if there had been no resurrection talk of the cross would have faded away centuries ago. We are a people of resurrection faith. We choose to believe that in Jesus Christ’s resurrection we see the prime example of something that defines God’s very inner-most character. God is a God of life. God created life. God sustains life. And most significantly, God can and does give new life, when death seems to be getting its way.

So perhaps it is most fitting that Mary Magdalene would be one of the first to encounter the risen Christ. After all, consider her own experience. She had been possessed by 7 evil spirits. You can make of that whatever you want. In some countries and cultures even today the concept of evil spirits possessing people is quite common. In other places it is almost unheard of. I’m not intending to start any sort of debate about the nature of this woman’s prior condition. It could have been evil spirits like you see in The Exorcist, or it could have been some form of mental illness. Or, if it was similar to other cases of evil spirits described in the gospels, it might have been an illness that caused seizures. I don’t have an answer, other than to say that two thousand years ago in Israel her condition was described as possession by evil spirits. The fact that there were seven of them is even more intriguing. If talking about conditions that modern doctors describe as mental illness, in some cases people assume different personalities; sometimes even multiple different personalities. So what was Mary Magdalene’s condition? We don’t know for sure, but what we do know is that it was very serious. Mary Magdalene’s previous condition is mentioned in scripture, while we don’t see similar references for any other disciples of Jesus; except with regard to their professions; (fisherman, tax collector, etc.) The clear implication is that it was because the evil spirits had left her that she was able to follow Jesus. She had experienced some sort of healing and ended up being one of Jesus’ central disciples. If we look at other references to evil spirits in the gospels, it is clear that these people were not able to function as normal, healthy members of society. Their condition made normal life completely impossible. Things haven’t changed that much over the past two thousand years. Of course, medical technology has produced some forms of treatment for some types of mental illness but very few of them are completely satisfactory. Even the drugs that work well often have very high risks of serious side-effects. And while they may help people live somewhat more normal lives, they rarely completely cure the illness to the point where medication is no longer needed. And many more serious forms of mental illness still have no effective means of treatment. Two thousand years ago there were no means of curing what people called “evil spirits”. People who suffered in these conditions were virtually helpless. And yet we know that Mary Magdalene recovered from her condition. While her condition hadn’t killed her, it might not be an exaggeration to describe her prior life as being like death. It certainly wasn’t very similar to what was normally considered “being alive”. And yet she was cured; released from her condition and set free. You could describe her experience as “new life”. And that is exactly the kind of thing we believe in as people of resurrection faith. When life is bad and feels more like death; when things seem hopeless and the natural inclination is to give up all hope; as people of resurrection faith we never give up hope that things can get better. We never stop believing that life can be restored.

Another individual who had a similar, although even more graphic experience in the gospel accounts is Lazarus. He actually did die and then was restored to life by the power and love of Jesus. And then there are the countless other gospel accounts of people who suffered all sorts of illnesses and maladies that reduced their life to one of hopelessness. Over and over again we read of their encounters with Jesus, thru which they were restored and given new life. These stories are all part of the bigger story, the story that reaches its culmination in the event we celebrate today, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ resurrection was an absolute victory of the power of life over the power of death.

Of course it’s hard to believe. It is absolutely not normal. But we believe it to be true, just as we believe all the other healing accounts in scripture to be true. Mary had already had her own resurrection experience and had been living in the joy and fullness of restored life for some time. Her natural response was to commit herself to following, serving, loving and supporting Jesus and his ministry. It seems entirely appropriate that she would be one of the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. Two thousand years later we read of her encounter with Christ and we celebrate because we are a people of resurrection faith. Jesus’ command to the women becomes a command to all of us: Stop being afraid! God has defeated death. Rejoice, and share the good news! That is why we celebrate today, and that is why we are a people of resurrection faith. Happy Easter!

Amen