Breakfast wasn’t much – no one is really hungry. They’re all
feeling a little nauseous anyway. They talk quietly among themselves about the
work. There’s no need to wash the body – Joseph and Nicodemus already managed
to do that. They just need to, want to supplement the spices that have been
tucked into the folds of his linen shroud. As His closest relative, this is
Mary’s sad duty and obligation. Is she thinking of Simeon’s whispered prophecy
to her? She probably is, because it feels as if a sword has pierced her soul.
A few of her friends, including Mary Magdalene and Joanna,
accompany her. It is Joanna who has filled in many of the information gaps
concerning Jesus’ show trials. Together they move through the still dark streets
towards Golgotha. Jesus is buried not far from there.
Is this, they wonder, the new normal? They left everything
behind to follow Jesus on the road. Now the road leads to a tomb. Is this all
there is? Does moving forward mean going back?
The city has set aside the Sabbath like a gown. It is
Sunday, but the hour is so early that the gates are just now being opened.
Suddenly, violently, the ground beneath their feet begins to rumble, buck and
pitch. The women drop the spices and huddle together in the middle of the
street. Their nervous laughter lets us know that earthquakes are all too common
here (but there’s been nothing recent like the one that rocked Uzziah’s throne).
Picking up their parcels, they resume their plodding way and
quiet conversation. How will we roll away the stone? Maybe we can use a lever?
“There is no need,” says Joanna, a shaft of light from the rising sun falling
across her face. “The tomb is open.”
This is not a happy moment – not yet anyway. It is a moment
of confusion, even anger. Imaginations race, tempers flare. They have taken my
Lord, I know not where.
Standing in the empty tomb they are confronted by strangers
in “dazzling apparel” – strangers who speak as if they, too, have been with
Jesus for the past 40-plus days.
“Don’t you remember – back in Galilee – how He told you this
would happen and that He would rise?”
And then suddenly, inexplicably, they do remember. The veil
of memory is lifted and the pieces start falling into place.
The women tell all these things to the 11 who, of course, do
not believe them (they’re only women, after all). But Peter, fully aware of how
His Lord uses the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the wise is
not so sure. He runs to the tomb (but is outpaced by John) and finds only the
linen shroud, the discarded spices. Does he dare hope?
Sightings and rumors of sightings draw the apostles together
back to the upper room (at John Mark’s house) where they last ate with Him. Discussion
and debate ensues. Confusion reigns. Who would take the body? Why would anyone
take the body?
With all the aborted preparations, the confusion, the debate, it’s clear that no one – no one – expects Jesus to rise from the dead. And this in spite of the fact that they have seen Him raise at least two people – the widow of Nain’s son and, most recently Lazarus – from the dead. They still have not figured out that God the Father was behind both of those events. Is it too much to suppose that the Father has resurrected the Son, too?
And suddenly He is there among them – alive and whole,
pierced for their transgressions yet plainly, gloriously alive. “Is it time now
for the Kingdom, Lord?” they ask.
But Jesus redirects them. He tells them about the people
they are going to be and the things they are going to do. He speaks about a new
temple – a living temple – that will be made of people, a body with Him as
their head.
“There’s more to come,” He assures them, “this isn’t over
yet. There is still lots of work to be done. I go to My Father and Yours, My
God and Your God. Just remember: I’ll be right back.”
And just like that – He’s gone, ascending into the clouds.
Just as He electrified the nation for three and a half years, He galvanizes His
disciples in the brief span between His resurrection and His ascension. He has
completed the work He came to do and handed out new assignments to each and
every one of us.
He is risen indeed. And He is returning. Just watch.
