[Acts 10:34-43; i Cor. 15:1-11; Jn. 20:1-18]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Easter... Alleluia!
All four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) tell about the Resurrection of Christ and their accounts are very similar but there are details that vary: like the earthquake, the number of women visiting the tomb, the number of angels or men there, or even the time of day when the resurrection took place.
Is that any reason to doubt their descriptions of events? Would we be less critical if all four Evangelists had written the exact same ‘incident report’?
After all, take any eyewitness accounts and there will be variations in the testimonies.
The situation surrounding Christ's execution and rising from the dead was dark and confusing, and it should come as no surprise that in those moments of utter grief and despair some of the details got muddled up.
What the gospels do agree on however is their insistence of Christ's body being absent from the tomb.
This emphasis is important because it underscores that the Resurrection isn't just a happy story, it isn’t just metaphysical or metaphorical, it isn’t just meant to be understood symbolically.
When Christ rose bodily from the dead, He showed that no part of human existence is more important than the other.
He redeemed soul and body!
Of course this is Good News that isn't always comprehensible or comforting.
We can preach salvation and tell people about the glory which awaits them but perhaps they're fearful or doubtful.
We can tell people about the resurrection of the body but perhaps they're in constant pain and agony when their bodies feel like a terrible burden.
We cannot ignore these pains or misgivings.
This too is part of our created humanity, this too -however difficult and confusing it might sound- is part of God's concern, His ongoing engagement with us.
Nonetheless, God who created both body and soul cares for both and considered both worthy of redemption.
It's a clear and wonderful message that all of Creation is worth saving.
Not just all of Creation but also all the parts of all of Creation.
All of us is precious to God; God wants to save all of us and all of all of us.
All our bits and pieces matter to God!
When Christ shed His shroud and burial cloths in the tomb, He did so that all of us would be able to do the same; shed our own darkness and sin and old life in order to become a new creation.
Baptism is where we find our strength to do this because through our baptism we share in Christ’s resurrection.
This is why many churches have a renewal of baptismal vows or promises at Easter.
It’s meant as a way to take the opportunity to reconnect to God, to yourself, to your parents and godparents maybe or even to all those millions of Christians through all times and of all places who made those same vows.
We are raised with Him in our baptism, not to sin or fear, not to waste our newly granted lives -new lives we receive by grace every day!- but to live here and now and afterwards with our risen Lord in paradise.
And it’s not just about what happens in the afterlife, it's also about our very lives here on earth as part of the whole of Creation.
If life is eternally given to us by Christ's redemptive work than that eternal life includes the here and now!
We’re renewed, re-created so that we can be co-workers with God in this time and in this place.
New life, new beginnings, new chances mean exactly that: we must grab these opportunities, the love and hope and faith given to us and do something with them, act on them! Turn the theory of the Resurrection into practice!
We can't just sit on this Good News and jealously guard it for ourselves.
Of course that's no small commission, no small responsibility.
Many people, including Christians, are uncomfortable with the resurrection story; they prefer to interpret it metaphorically or mythically: it conveys a fantastic message… but let’s face it, no one really comes back from the dead –right? That fantastic message of new life and new beginnings and new opportunities is far more important than there being an actual tomb in present-day Israel that’s now empty –right?
Yet, then there’s that story of a man in a tomb, rising from the dead, having new life and bringing new life.
The early Christians insisted on it having truly physically happened: in Mark’s gospel the angel says: “He is not here.”
God taking the first step and stepping from the tomb back into the light to change lives and make them whole once again.
Every day this is offered to us over and over.
We celebrate the same at Holy Communion: “given for you”.
No matter what our situation, no matter how chaotic or organised it may be.
Death and Resurrection, because our Lord really did go through both.
Whatever the circumstance of the day, whatever the mood of the hour, time and time again God will be there, because He understands. He loves. He forgives. He cries with us, walks with us and if we bear in mind Good Friday even stumbles with us.
What’s more: He died for us… and rose again on that first Easter morning.
Easter... Alleluia!
That glorious day, after the consuming darkness, after perhaps the misery, the pain, but also the happy times, all part of life… after all that, perhaps a simple way to express the message of hope and life is this one:
“Jesus said to her: ‘Mary’”
He said ‘Mary’ but it could be any single one of us…
Because of our baptism we all are called to fill in our own name there.
Alleluia Christ is truly risen. Amen.