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In
the Communist era in
There
are many different elements that go to make up the picture of the resurrection
appearances of Jesus - we need the four gospels to gain that many-sided
picture. Luke has the wonderful story of the two on the road to Emmaus, with
Jesus revealed in the breaking of bread, so memorably pictured by Caravaggio in 1601.
However, this morning we look only at one
part of John’s account.
In John’s account, early on the first
day of the week, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb where Jesus had been buried. The
stone door has been removed. She is aghast. In Matthew the ‘other Mary’ (the
mother of James) is also there. In Mark the two Marys
plus Salome. In Luke it is ‘the women’. There is unanimity about one thing: the
women are there first.
Some people expend great energy trying
to harmonise the gospel records, and especially those about the resurrection.
They feel this is needed to ensure historical credibility. In fact I would be
much more worried if they all said exactly the same thing. That would look to
me like a conspiracy! The variations speak of authentic records by people who,
like us, note the things that strike them or the things that people tell them.
Bear in kind that none of the gospel writers was there when the women made the
first visits to the tomb. They presumably relied on the people to whom they
spoke – the women themselves. Haven’t you had reports on the news sometimes of
an event that you have attended and wondered if the reporter was at the same
event? Each gospel writer gives us an important insight.
In John the focus is on Mary Magdalene.
Probably a lot of people today think that Mary Magdalene’s role was only
discovered by Dan Brown and written up in the Da Vinci Code. Well, actually,
John got there first. Mary Magdalene is a very important witness to the resurrection.
But the Dan Brown stuff, although highly entertaining, moves away from anything
that is historically-based: he gets his ideas mainly from later second century Gnostic
‘gospels’ – and the Gnostic writers were pretty uninterested in what actually
happened. Brown seems to have failed to realise this.
By contrast, the early writers talk
about real events. And the amazing thing is that they talk about the women as
the first witnesses. This would not be your tactic if you wanted to make up a
story to convince first century readers, especially in the Jewish community.
The woman is ‘in all things inferior to the man’, said first century Jewish
writer Josephus. Women were not accepted as witnesses. So the gospels are
radical documents – all of them.
Mary Magdalene’s first act of witness
is to two of the key disciples – Simon Peter and (in all probability) John –
the disciple Jesus loved. She shares what she has seen and at first there is no
great affirmation of faith – no ‘He is risen’. Rather
‘They have taken the Lord…’ This is shot through with reality. Of course her
first instinct is that there has been some desecration by the Romans or the
Jewish leaders or others. Of course ‘they’ don’t want this tomb to be a shrine
to a martyr. ‘They’ – they are in control – as now, so then.
And so the men come, in response to the
word of the first witness, Mary Magdalene. John seems to do rather well in all
of this section. He’s the one who is in good shape – outran Peter (although
typically Peter is in the tomb first). And he is the one who believes. Why does
he believe? Something about the way the linen wrappings were? Had Jesus simply gone
through them? If people had taken the body either they would have taken the
wrappings or they would have tossed them to one side. This detail is typical of
the thoughtful John.
These, then, are the details. But it is
still not a story of triumphant faith – they did not understand the scripture.
The two men went home, puzzled. But Mary, and perhaps the other women,
remained, and again it is the women who see more. They see an angel - or here Mary
sees two angels. It is an overwhelming sight. They speak to her. ‘Why are you
weeping?’ Still she does not have a belief that Jesus could be alive. They have
taken away my Lord….
I suggest that all of this is very real
– faith does not just come neatly packaged. It is a mistake to expect that to
happen in ourselves or in others. It grows. It grows by experience. Let us
share with each other those things that God is doing.
The next and the most momentous step in
Mary’s experience now takes place. She turns and sees
someone – it is Jesus, but she doesn’t recognise him. The
gardener? Why does she not recognise? Part of the explanation is
probably her tears. But also Jesus’ body was new. It was not the old body
brought to life. It is the prototype of a new body. She doesn’t even recognise
his voice. Is this the kind of hallucinatory wish fulfilment that some people
try to convince us about? Hardly….Then he speaks her name. ‘Mary.’ And that is
it. And that is how it is for all of us who come to know Jesus. He speaks our
name. Her reply is simply – ‘Rabbi. Teacher.’
Mary Magdalene is the model disciple. She
can be an example for us. She does not have an unreal faith. But she works
towards a faith that is truly hers. And when Jesus speaks she is willing to
follow.
There is the strange ‘do not hold on to
me’ command from Jesus. In some versions it is ‘do not touch me’. I suspect
that Mary was busy saying – ‘don’t ever leave us again’. But Jesus must leave.
He must ascend. The Spirit must come.
‘I
have seen the Lord!’, is her message now. This is the
full flowering of faith.
There are some questions for us this
Easter morning.
Have we seen Jesus – not physically,
but through the Holy Spirit? Are we looking for him?
If we have found him – or been found by
him - are we, like Mary, witnesses?
Are we encouraging those who are or can
be witnesses? – through the centuries the churches
have at times lost sight of the basic fact that ministry belongs to women as
well as men.
Are we focussed in all of our lives on Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord?
Discussion points –
in groups read John 20:1-18 and select from the following.
1. What arguments would you use, if any, to persuade someone that ‘He is Risen’.
2. Why has the witness of women so often been overlooked?
3. If Jesus was not raised from the dead what would the implications be for us?
4. Since Jesus has been raised, what are the implications for us? (1 Cor.15)