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Author: Amy Thompson Sevimli
If you don’t usually go to church or read the Bible in detail and you disagree with me about this, let me know, but I think that there are a lot of people out there who don’t think of Mark’s gospel when they think of the Easter story, and I would go so far as to say that they don’t even know about it.
Mark 16.1-8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.*
“They fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.” Really? It may be Easter morning, and Jesus may have risen from the dead, but this is not usually the view we hear proclaimed most often on Easter morning or on any day spent chatting with a Christian. Yet, I wonder if it’s not closer to what a lot people think or feel when considering the Easter resurrection.
After all, the concept of the resurrection doesn’t really fit into our 21st century scientific framework. Many people deeply respect the way Jesus lived, but rising from the dead? Not so sure about that. We are much more comfortable with life. Just go to any beach and look at the number of people who appear electively to have had “work done” and you will see that our culture has serious trouble with ageing and spends a lot of time trying to save itself from death. We put so much money into keeping ourselves from dying that it seems like we leave little hope for anything after death, much less rising from it.
But I know a lot of Christians who feel guilty about this seeming inconsistency in their faith. They feel like they should not ignore or doubt the resurrection but that they should proclaim it. Yet, they find themselves amazed by the whole concept of the resurrection and would prefer, like the women at the tomb in Mark’s gospel (or the disciples in John’s gospel who lock themselves in a room after Jesus resurrection) to say nothing to anyone.
It’s at this point that I think people expect to be scolded for their waffling back and forth, their inconsistency and fear. Because for a long time the Church has met doubt met not with understanding and an openness to dialogue, but with something more akin to a Bible beating in which doubters are berated for their uncertainty. Yet, one thing the Church has failed to admit is that some of the world’s most faithful people have had moments of uncertainty. From some of the most devoted lives of faith it appears as if authentic faith often doubts. But the Church has not done a good job of making room for this conversation. So, when it comes to the Easter resurrection, initial silence, like that from the women at the tomb, doesn’t seem terribly surprising to me.
Yet, what gives me hope is that silence did not have the last word that morning. For those women must have eventually asked a question, told someone about their experience, or even doubted their own experience. Whether they believed every bit of it or not, somehow the story continued, so that we could know it, hear it, and enter into it today. It is the story we read in those short eight verses above, and the same story which tells us about a God who loves the world in spite of its fear, its error, its inconsistency or even its hypocrisy. It is the story of a God who doesn’t make grace, mercy, or resurrection rely on us, but simply loves us before we ask for it and even if we miss it. This kind of love can be hard to get our heads around and even harder to accept, but ultimately it doesn’t depend on us. Christ already died; Christ already rose; God’s love already is; God already loves you. This is what the women found at the tomb and took with them that morning. This is the Easter gift is yours this day and every day.
I don’t know what your reaction is. Maybe you simply believe. Maybe you react more with fear, amazement, or silence. Maybe confusion, doubt, or questioning. Whatever it is, I hope that you won’t keep it to yourself, but that eventually you will engage your reactions to this story in a community open to and engaged in dialogue…or even right here.
April 12th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Very nice post. I had a great time at Easter service today, but one line that bothered me in “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” (ELW #392) was, “Faith believes, nor questions how.” Now, I have no problem with the first clause, some level of belief being the definition of faith, but I could not bring myself to sing the, “nor questions how.” I think when we say people can’t question how, we are writing a whole class of people out of the church, people like me, who, while having a very strong faith at the core, have doubts about certain parts of the Bible, or at least questions. I’m glad that you have an interest in engaging people with these doubts, and I hope the ELCA will always be a church that will listen to people’s doubts without condemning.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
James
A quick question for you based on your response (or anyone else who may want to respond): do you think that faith precludes doubt?
April 14th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
That’s a great question. I think it depends on who you ask. Some people would probably say yes, but if it does, then I am faithless, which I think is a lie.
I like to turn to the line we discussed in our Bible study of Mark at St. Paul’s a couple weeks ago (I don’t remember the chapter/verse), but it is: “I believe; help my unbelief.” That is almost a perfect description of my faith. As someone who accepts evolution, I cannot help but doubt that the Earth was literally created in 6 days sequentially as chronicled in Genesis, or but to question some of the greater feats of the Old Testament. Sometimes I have even found myself questioning the existence of God altogether (although usually within 3 seconds when I reflect on my life I see God working in it). Nevertheless, essentially I believe and I find that when I am a community of people who have the same questions and doubts, that together, we can all work through the hard parts, and make our faith even stronger–even if it results in unanswered questions or spiritual best guesses. Through this, I see God actively participating in my struggles to help me overcome any “stumbling blocks” that might get in my way.
Anyway, I’d be interested to see other people’s thoughts. Very interesting subject.
April 15th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Here’s a nutty idea (thought I’d say it first): I think that Mark’s Gospel is intended to be read twice in a row. What the women feel and don’t do is a device to get the reader (not the disciples) back to Galilee. In chapter 16, the “young man” in the tomb tells the women to tell the disciples that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee, where they “will see him.” There is no instruction to tell the disciples “Go to Galilee.” They – and Jesus – were going there anyway.
If one goes from 16:8 directly to 1:14, Jesus comes into Galilee, preaching. There, in Galilee, Jesus meets the disciples/reader (for the first time? the second? every time?). Jesus meets them in Galilee, they follow him, but only slowly and incompletely understand him. The point? That the entire life of discipleship is one of incompletely, slowly, wrongly, and fearfully believing. We have to keep going back to Galilee. And, it’s interesting, in 1:16, the disciples don’t see Jesus… Jesus saw them. So much for our seeing and believing. Not a sermon… just a lame-brained thought.
The women, it seems to me, don’t have to say anything to anyone because Jesus goes ahead of them.