John 20:1-9
There were a lot of witnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion. Long before the gospels were written, there was a consensus-- Jesus had been betrayed by Judas; arrested, encountered the Chief Priest and Pilate, tortured, nailed to the cross, died. Peter had betrayed him; the other apostles deserted him. Each gospel writer tells almost the same story, because people had been telling each other about the crucifixion all through the Roman empire, as disciples of Christ spread out with the message. If someone had a different story, no one would have believed him.
The resurrection stories, though, are another thing entirely. All the gospels tell different stories. You can’t come up with a consensus. They are all, in a sense, personal. No one saw Jesus rise. But all the stories have a few things in common. They begin with the totally unexpected discovery of an empty tomb. Each writer tells it a little differently. In Matthew, two women including Mary Magdalene go to the tomb and meet an angel who rolled back the stone that sealed the tomb. He announces that Jesus has risen, and they are to go and tell the apostles. On the way, the women meet Jesus himself. In Mark, three women including Mary Magdalene, find the stone rolled back and meet a young man dressed in a white robe who tells them that Jesus has risen. Later, Jesus appears to Mary, who tells those who had been with him, but they don’t believe it. In Luke the women are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, but they find the tomb open and two men with clothes gleaming like lightning, who ask, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” They tell the apostles, and Peter runs to the tomb and finds the strips of linen, and wonders what happened. And finally, in John, we heard how Mary discovered the empty tomb, told the a;postles, and Peter and the one Jesus loved come to the tomb. John’s gospel goes on to tell that beautiful story of Mary thinking that Jesus is the gardener and discovering it is Jesus when he simply calls her by name.
After the discovery of the empty tomb, we read about Jesus appearing in the midst of his disciples who think he’s a ghost; appearing again when Thomas is there; appearing to the disciples on the way to Emmaus; and appearing to some of the apostles on the shores of the lake. In all these cases they don’t recognize him until he does something typical of Jesus -- calls them by name; explains the scriptures, asks for their faith; feeds them. Everyone concludes that Jesus is alive, he has risen, not a ghost, but in his real body -- but obviously different, obviously so different that it takes a while to recognize him.
Most bible experts believe that the four gospels were written for different audiences by writers who firmly believed that Jesus rose from the dead. Like the crucifixion story, there were things you couldn’t leave out. And the writers assembled their accounts around those things, using some of the many stories of Jesus’ appearances that happened after his crucifixion. If you were making up a resurrection story, would you start with an empty tomb? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t. Would you have the first witness, or witnesses be women? In those days women weren’t considered credible witnesses in a court of law. Would you have believed the apostles, peasants from Galilee, who claimed they had seen him alive and well? Thomas, one of his best friends, did not. But as time went on more and more people were convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. And when you think about it, that’s amazing, that’s proof, that means that something supernatural is at work getting people to literally lay down their lives rather than deny that Jesus rose from the dead.
It’s not hard to believe that Jesus was executed on a cross. To believe he rose from the dead, though -- it takes faith, because he leaves us free to accept or reject him. And I’ll make a bold statement -- I think Jesus continues to move among us, revealing himself in different ways. Many years ago there was a group of monks who kind of lost their charism. They formed factions, they stopped obeying to abbot; some took to drinking more than their share of the monastery beer. The place was really falling apart. The abbot didn’t know what to do. Then a wandering rabbi appeared at the monastery door. He was invited to dine with the monks. During supper, he said, “I know you believe that the Messiah has already come into the world. I came to tell you that one of you is the Messiah.” And from that moment on, the monastery became known for its holiness, its discipline, and indeed its joy. CS Lewis said, “next to the blessed sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses”. Jesus has risen. Jesus sits at the right hand of his Father. Jesus lives in you and in me. Let us look at each other with a new sense of wonder.
