An Easter prism of truth - Remember!
The most popular gospel account of the resurrection to read on Easter Sunday is the one from the gospel of John, but today we read Luke, and Luke’s colour is different from Johns, lets dwell in Luke’s unique colour today. This is a resurrection story and yet did you notice that something is missing from it? Where is Jesus? We have the early morning on the first day of the week, the women, the spices, the stone, the empty tomb, the angels, and Peter running. But Jesus does not appear in this resurrection story.
In our liturgy this morning we fully enter into the joy of the resurrection, but in our gospel we are not there yet. We can imagine this story beginning in sorrow, the women going to the tomb to complete the preparation of the body of their dearest friend, the one on whom so much hope had been pinned. Hopes for transformation, hopes for revolution all dashed. Instead of spending their morning completing a quiet, sad, necessary work, the women were confused by the empty tomb and terrified by the appearance of angels.
Perhaps this story is more than ever for us today. We don’t have a risen Jesus we can touch, we can’t see with our own eyes the wounds in his hands. In this story we are still left in confusion and uncertainty. Confusion and uncertainty might well be the words for our world today.
In the past there was great hope in progress. Humanity was changing and evolving. We were getting better. We were leaving our old class and caste systems behind. Education was giving us all equal opportunities for advancement. We had the war that would end all wars - but it didn’t. We said never again and yet in our world today there are wars in Russia/Ukraine, in the Middle East, in Africa … countries are spending fortunes increasing their military capabilities. We seem to be retreating to a feudal system; but instead of feudal lords and serfs, we have multibillionaires heading up multinational companies which exploit the poor. Instead of increasing unity as education improves our understanding, we are retreating into an increasingly tribal society of “us against them”, where truth is a casualty. So we find ourselves confused and uncertain, with hopes for change and transformation in our world dashed. We find ourselves with the women in Luke’s story - sad and at times frightened.
The angels asked the question “why do you look for the living among the dead?” I wonder what question they ask us today? Perhaps something like “where are you looking for your hope?”
Then comes the call to remember, and it is the same call for us today - remember the words of Jesus, remember the life of Jesus. Actually every Sunday in the Eucharist we are urged “do this to remember me”. In the act of eating and drinking we are remembering Jesus, his life, his servant leadership, his love for all, his suffering for all, his sacrifice, his new life that he shares with us. Remember.
This call to remember is not just to remember Jesus but to remember who we are - because our identity is found in Christ individually and collectively - we are the baptised community, we are the ones he called and formed and continues to form into a community of love, the kingdom of God. It is in Christ we know equality and unity, forgiveness and freedom, acceptance and welcome. It is in Christ that despair can be transformed into hope and faith and life. Remember
In the words of Malcolm Guite
“From now on there is just the single, eternal day of resurrection, and by its light we can look back over our long pilgrimage and see the glory of this day, hidden once but shining now, in all we have been through.” Remember.
It’s ok if, like the women, we don’t completely get it all at once. But as we recall the life and words of Jesus, we are impelled like the women to share with others, as we struggle on this journey to begin to understand the mystery of Easter. I would like to have been a fly on the wall listening to that conversation - they arrive out of breath and begin to tell the story of the empty tomb, stumbling over their words interrupting each other as more memories come to the surface “and do you remember when he said…” and “what about when he did this…” and “oh that’s what he must have meant …” and “but I still don’t understand …”. This was not some rehearsed logical testimony that you might hear in a court of law. This was remembering together, prompting each other. It was confused and jumbled. Perhaps it was understandable that their listeners didn’t understand or believe them. And that can be our experience today as we testify to this wonderful mystery. Perhaps there will be one Peter who, on hearing us, will run to the empty tomb and as some versions have it- Peter “ departed, wondering to himself at that which had come to pass”.
Luke reveals a particular colour and shade in the story of the empty tomb, and it is highly relevant to us today. In this world of tension and confusion, It’s not our job to convert or even convince others. Our mahi is to remember Jesus in word and action, to live out the remembering in lives transformed by the Spirit, to bear witness, using words if needed, and to invite others to wonder.
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