Now I must admit that when I was a kid I
used to be quite good at hide-and-seek: I had a great way to not get caught –
it also worked very well with my own kids when they were little – when I was
hiding and they were looking for me, I kept my eyes open and watched to see
where they were and listened to discover where they were looking and as soon as
they had looked in a particular spot, I would move from where I was hiding to
that exact spot where they just were, knowing that they won’t look there again.
This worked really well in a house with an upstairs and a downstairs because as
soon as the kids came upstairs, I would make a beeline straight downstairs.
Hide and seek: Did you ever play hide and
seek? There is one thing that you notice playing ‘hide and seek’ with mostly
little kids but sometimes with older ones as well. It is really quite neat. Most of them when they are hiding, they
close their eyes. So when you call out, ‘1-2-3, I see you’ – you will sometimes
hear – ‘no you don’t! …I have my eyes closed’ or ‘1-2-3, I see you’ - ‘you
can’t; I’m invisible still…I still have my eyes closed.’ This is not totally unrelated from our text
today, as people are wondering why they can’t see Jesus.
In our pericope today the disciples and
specifically the women are convinced that they know where Jesus is and what is
happening. They look in the spot where they know he went, the tomb for the
dead, but Jesus has moved. He is back in the land of the living. And so the
angels ask, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The people in our story today have no
expectation that Jesus will rise from the dead. Even though he alluded to the
fact that he will rise from the dead (Luke 9:22, 44; 18:32-33) and even though
he himself raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11), no one had ever been raised
from the dead like this before so they did not expect it – and really can we blame
them? When is the last time you went to a funeral and the funeral home director
or the minister opens the coffin and says, now where did your uncle John get
to? Did anyone see John? Hmm, I wonder if he has just become alive again and
walked out the door. I hate it when that happens…
Actually in Toronto we did run into
something like that. The only time I have ever seen anything like that: We had
a funeral bulletin board on the wall where we would put funeral cards and
pictures of people who had been promoted to Glory. And we did have to actually
take one down as the person was verified to be walking around and actually
spoke with a couple of members of the congregation. But this is the only time I
have ever seen anything like that: dead people walking around alive is the
exception rather than the rule of course…
The women, in our text today, aren't
expecting to see him alive at the grave. They head out to the tomb it says with
spices in hand. Luke 23:56 tells us that the women in Jesus life prepared these
spices before the Sabbath began but waited until after to anoint the
body;[2]
so what is the purpose of anointing the body? Some have suggested that it has
to do with an embalming practice of sorts but, of course, the Jewish people
never practiced embalming;[3]
however, it does still have to do with a burial rite of first century Palestine
(cf. Shabbath 23:4,5).[4] The women
are preparing to see a dead man. They don’t believe yet in the imminent
resurrection.
Mark – in his gospel - lets us listen to the women’s conversation en route to the tomb. On the way to the grave, what are they talking about? What’s on their minds? Are they discussing the possibility of the resurrection? Are they wondering if…maybe…could he have risen from the dead? No. What Mark records in his gospel is that they are concerned with the rock in front of tomb. Who’ll roll it away they wonder? They think they are going to see a dead man sealed in a tomb. They don’t know he’s alive.
It must to them then seem like everything that the women and the other disciples had pinned their hopes and dreams on was for nothing. Do we ever get like that? Do we ever get disillusioned? This must be what it feels like for the women at first, seeing as they head out with these spices. They are in mourning going out to pay respect to a dead leader rather than a risen saviour. They are out there looking for the living among the dead.
Mark – in his gospel - lets us listen to the women’s conversation en route to the tomb. On the way to the grave, what are they talking about? What’s on their minds? Are they discussing the possibility of the resurrection? Are they wondering if…maybe…could he have risen from the dead? No. What Mark records in his gospel is that they are concerned with the rock in front of tomb. Who’ll roll it away they wonder? They think they are going to see a dead man sealed in a tomb. They don’t know he’s alive.
It must to them then seem like everything that the women and the other disciples had pinned their hopes and dreams on was for nothing. Do we ever get like that? Do we ever get disillusioned? This must be what it feels like for the women at first, seeing as they head out with these spices. They are in mourning going out to pay respect to a dead leader rather than a risen saviour. They are out there looking for the living among the dead.
Do we ever get like that? Do we ever look
for the living among the dead? Do we ever come here to church as if we are
headed out to a funeral rather than a victory party? Do we ever come here on
Sunday morning to pay tribute to a dead historical figure and read scriptures
as if they are eulogies? Sunday Meeting – do we sometimes treat it like a
funeral service?
Look – church services have some of the
same trappings as funerals / memorial services. In a funeral we sing some
favourite songs; in church we sing some favourite songs. In a funeral we read
some favourite scriptures and at church we read some favourite scriptures. At a
funeral we often have flowers and pictures of the deceased. There are often
flowers and pictures, depictions of Christ at church. At a funeral we talk
about the life of the person who has passed away. In church we speak about
Jesus; do we do it as if he has passed away? Do we ever come here as if we are
looking for the living among the dead?
I think of some comments that I read
on-line. I often scan news sites and such quickly on the computer to see what
is going on in our world. I was reading this one story. It was a horrible story
actually. The CBC headline said ‘Christians celebrate Palm Sunday’ or something
like that and when you clicked on the article it had nothing much to do with
that at all.[5] It was just
an open attack on the Roman Catholic Church, highlighting some of the sex abuse
scandals that the press likes to report ad nauseam. The headline said
‘Christians celebrate Palm Sunday’ and then the article just attacked the
church. It was the same with a lot of the coverage of the Notre Dame tragedy.
This is certainly a sign of the times in our country as we move further and
further away from our Lord and Saviour. I was particularly struck by some of
the comments posted about the article. There were a number of commentators who
were upset. There were a lot of anti-Christian comments and people attacking
religion in general and Christians in specific. One comment someone made caught
my attention. This person wrote that with all of this fighting going on about
the church, Christ is probably ‘rolling over in his grave’…now I don’t know if
you catch the significance to this comment or not – Christ is probably ‘rolling
over in his grave’- but someone did because the reply to that comment went like
this: Jesus won’t be rolling over in his grave because he is no longer in the
grave. He has risen from the grave. This is an important distinction. He’s not
dead; he is alive. We should not look for the living among the dead.
In our story today, we are told that the
women who go to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body are perplexed by all this (Luke
24:4) because Jesus isn’t lying in his grave like their other friends and
relatives that have passed away. They are perplexed and while they are staring
at where is body is supposed to be … suddenly these two men (Luke 24:4), angels
(cf. 24:23, Matthew 28:2-5; Mark 16:5), appear beside them! Can you imagine? It
says that the ladies are frightened – no kidding – can you imagine? Again, you
arrive at a viewing before a funeral. Uncle John, or whoever, isn’t in his
coffin where he is expected to be, and the room that he is supposed to be kept
in for safekeeping is wide open and while you are standing there with your
cards and flowers in hand - suddenly two brightly shining angles appear beside
you. This would be quite a thing. Is it any wonder that the women were afraid?
Who wouldn’t be just a little bit startled at all this? Is it any wonder too
that when the women told their friends this story that their friends didn’t
believe them (NIV); it says that they thought the women were talking nonsense
(NIV) or making up some idle tale (ESV, Luke 23:10-11). And really what would
you think? Would you think that an executed person – a person that you may have
seen executed yourself - would be found among the living or the dead?
The women go on, of course, to tell the
disciples all that these two angels, these two men in shining clothes, told
them[6]: “‘Why do you look for the living among the
dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was
still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of
sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’” (Luke 24:5-7;
but cf. Matthew 28:7, Mark 16:7; cf. also Luke 9:30-31) It is after that that
they remember Jesus words and begin to realize the truth of the resurrection
and what exactly Jesus had been talking about all along (cf. 9:22, 44;
18:32-33). You see they had come to the tomb looking for Jesus – who is alive –
among the dead. Now even in the midst of all this unbelief, Peter runs out to the
tomb to take a look for himself, Verse 12, and he takes a look and he sees
Jesus' burial clothes, the linen strips lying there and he doesn’t quite know
what to think (cf. John 20:3ff.). It says he left there wondering exactly what
had happened.[7]
Now – of course – 2000 years later, we know
what happened (cf. Mark 16, Luke 24:36ff., John 20:19ff., John 21; Acts 2-4,
10,13). We have a mass of eyewitness accounts and historical documents
explaining to us that Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus rose from the dead (cf. Mark
16:9ff., Luke 24:13ff., John 20-21, Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5;
Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-20; cf. also Gospel of Peter 35-42). Even
in our Bibles here, all four Gospel accounts relate how Jesus, the Messiah, the
Son of God, the Saviour of the World rose from the grave (Matthew 28, Mark 16,
Luke 24, John 20). Historically, legally, theologically there is no compelling
evidence to direct us to any other conclusion than that he rose from the grave,[8]
defeating death but that doesn’t make it any less surprising when you are in
the midst of it; the good news is of course that they all do get it – and I
invite you to read the end of the book of Luke in your Bible this week.
Depending, there is only one more page to Luke’s Gospel. We are studying Luke
in our Tuesday night Bible study. And even if you read the whole book of Luke
from cover to cover, I can’t imagine that it would take you much more than an
hour to read. The end of this gospel is exciting too because as the days and
weeks unfold, a number of the disciples – hundreds of them – actually do see
Jesus (cf. Luke 24:12-29). They see that he rose from the dead and they get it.
They understand that what they thought on Palm Sunday was right: Jesus is the
King of Kings and he is the Prince of Peace. He isn’t just a dead good moral
leader or a failed revolutionary; he really is not only King of the Jews, as
was written on his cross (cf. Mark 15:26; John 19:19-21; Luke 23:38; cf. also
Matthew 2:2, 27:12; Mark 15:2-12; Luke 23:3); but indeed he is Lord of heaven
and earth. He has risen from the dead.
He is real and we have a real access to God today.[9]
I am reminded of an object lesson that I
saw from an Officer – Captain Gord Taylor – when he was posted in Maple Creek a
few years ago. It made an impression on me. Do you remember those bracelets
that were once so popular? They said WWJD or What Would Jesus Do? Now these are
good for a couple of reasons: 1) when we see them we hopefully think of Christ
and 2) Hopefully they can be a wonderful tool for evangelism as people see them
and ask us about them we can share our faith. Gord made a very good point about
those bracelets though: He said that instead of WWJD, What Would Jesus Do, they
should say, Jesus what should I do?
Do you see the subtle difference? The
difference is that he is alive – so we can actually ask Jesus what we can do.
This is the difference that I invite us all to recognize here on this Easter
Sunday. Jesus isn’t just a dead leader - moral, political, or otherwise, whose code
of ethics or political ethos we should follow; Jesus is Lord whom we should
serve. Rather than just talking about what we think he would do in a difficult
situation, we can come to him in any situation and ask him, “Jesus, what should
I do?” This is important. We don’t just need to talk about a person who lived
2000 years ago, we can speak directly to the ruler of heaven and earth, who is
alive, who is here and who is -in essence- standing in our midst.
Let us call upon him now.
---
[1] Based on the sermon by the same name presented to Swift Current
Corps of The Salvation Army on Easter Sunday, 04 April 2010, by Captain Michael
Ramsay. Available on-line:
[2] CF. RCH Lenski. The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel. P. 737,
for a different opinion: he believes that these indeed may be entirely
different spices.
[3] Walter Wessel: Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Mark,
The Resurrection (16:1-8), Book Version: 4.0.2 : it was a single act of love
and devotion probably meant to reduce the stench of the decomposing body.
Palestine's hot climate causes corpses to decay rapidly. Thus the action of the
women seems strange. Perhaps they thought that the coolness of the tomb would
prevent the decomposition process from taking place as rapidly as it otherwise
would.
[4] Leon Morris Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, (TNTC3:
Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1988), note on Luke 25:53-56, Disc: Tyndale Old and New
Testament Commentaries (US) (3.0f) version 2009-10-09T22:50:34Z.
[5] CBC News, 'Christians observe Palm Sunday' Last Updated: Sunday,
March 28, 2010 | 11:06 PM ET (cited 28 Mar 2010) Available on-line:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/28/pope-palm-sunday.html#ixzz0jgY29PGv
[6] Luke Timothy Johnson, ‘Luke 24:1-11’ in Interpretation 46 no 1 Jan
1992, p 57:
“Luke's
diction in describing their ‘shining clothes’ recalls to the careful reader the
"two men" (Moses and Elijah) who conversed with Jesus at the
transfiguration (Luke 9:30-31) as well as the "two men" who interpret
for the disciples Jesus' ascension (Acts 1:10). We recognize in these
intertextual signals an allusion to Luke's presentation of Jesus as "the
prophet like Moses" whom God raised up.”
[7]Cf. Walter L. Leifled.The
Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis
CD-ROM: Luke/Exposition of Luke/VI. Concluding Events (19:45-24:53)/C. The
Resurrection and Ascension (24:1-53)/1. The Resurrection (24:1-12), Book
Version: 4.0.2 : “Peter leaves, "wondering" (thaumuzon) to
himself about this. In Luke people "wonder" about things that are
hard to understand. The word does not in itself imply either belief or
unbelief. We conclude that Peter is still incredulous at this point, not
because the verb implies it, but because his visit to the empty tomb fails, in
spite of the evidence, to evoke a statement of belief from him (cf. John 20:8).”
[8] Cf. NT Wright, ‘The Challenge of Easter’ (Downers Grove, Ill: IVP:
2009), pp. 30-32.
[9] Frank J. Matera, ‘John 20:1-18’, in Interpretation 43 no 4 O 1989,
p 406: “Jesus is most present to the church precisely because he has returned
to the Father. Although the church no longer experiences Jesus in a physical
way as the disciples once did, its experience of him is real and intimate
because of the life-giving Spirit he has sent upon it.”
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