I found this in my drafts folder. It's a little early yet, as it is from Eater a few years back. Not sure why I never published it.
It was the women who accompanied him to the tomb. It was the women who dutifully prepared the spices and oils to give dignity to a decomposing body. This was not uncommon. It was one of the roles of women in society at the time. Perhaps it was because they were discounted and lacking power and influence that they were also humble enough to want to care for the dead and dying. Perhaps it is because of their role in bringing life into the world that they understood its passing more sincerely.
It was the women, in all four gospels, who were the first to proclaim the good news – the gospel truth – that HE IS RISEN! In reading and reflecting on this passage, I wonder what it must have felt like to proclaim that truth for the first time.
[three members perform “The Three Women” from Stages on the Way]
Three Women – Mary Magdalene, Joana the wife of Chuza, and Mary the mother of James – were the first to tell the tale that Jesus Christ is risen today. Although ChrisGan tradiGon has labeled Mary Magdalene a reformed prostitute, all we know from scripture is that seven demons were removed from her, and that she is the only person in all four gospels to be present for the empty tomb of Jesus. She represents the deep and meaningful connection between the self and God that has been opened to us through Jesus. How glad her heart must have been, and yet how overwhelming it must have felt to know that Jesus was alive! How incomprehensible it must have been to find out that he was liveing proof that love is stronger than death!
Joana was the wife of Chuza, steward to King Herod of Galilee. Some say she may have been a financier to the Jesus movement. Certainly her devotion to Jesus was risky to say the least – whether she borrowed from the King’s coffers or not. She may have even seen herself as working to overthrow the power of the corrupt Roman Puppet King Herrod. What an amazing experience it must have been to see how deeply countercultural the work of Jesus truly was!
Liale is known from scripture about Mary, the mother of James, except that she is directly noted in two of the four gospels as being present for this moment. There were two disciples named James, and she was certainly the mother of one of them. Some scholars believe she was also the wife of Cleopas, and may have even been the unamed companion traveling with him on the road to Emaus.
Mary reminds us that discipleship is not lived in church or synagogue or itinerant preaching. Desicpleship is lived through relationships that connect us, combine us, and even make us more vulnerable than we might ever want or choose to be.
This is the gospel – the good news – of Easter! Love is stronger than death, Jesus overthrows powers that oppress, and discipleship is not about going to church or any other named religious practice. In fact it was in the face of one of the most deeply held religious practices – a proper burial – that the resurrection of Jesus breaks into and disrupts.
And into this same uncomfortable space – the breakdown of a religion that has become the opposite of what it intends to be – walks Peter. Only days ago he had a vision of God proclaiming all foods holy ; this is a big deal because it is part of the covenant that set Israel apart as God’s chosen people. Only days before a righteous man who was not of God’s people – a Roman Centurian named Cornelius – had a vision that Peter might show him a more complete understanding of the active presence of God.
And Peter offers one of the earliest confessions of the church to a household of non-Jewish God fearers (a.k.a. gentiles). He tells them that they are proof that God loves indescriminantly. He tells them the story of how God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and that Jesus was killed in a way that should have demonstrated the power of Rome to cut off anyone they chose from God. But God demonstrated that love is more powerful than death by raising Jesus from the dead. And because of that, we (Peter, Cornelious, and many here today) believe that Jesus has authority over life and death – even over sin and forgiveness.
And so, on this day we flower crosses to be reminded of new life. We shout, “HE IS RISEN!” And we share the cup and loaf not just to remember the good news of Jesus, but to become the good news of Jesus – the Christ; Emanuel; God who is active, and present, and with us in all things!
Of course there is a challenge that comes with the invitaGon of the empty tomb. This is not news that you can keep to yourself. This is news that informs who you are and what you do. You see, shouting, “HE IS RISEN!” is not just punching a ticket on the express line to heaven. It is, instead, a step out of your own tomb. It is the heart beat of a new life that begins again and again and again. It is the realization that you are proof that God loves indiscriminantly – without partiality – and that, as Christ’s faithful disciple, you must love indescriminantly too. That is the good news of Easter, friends. The love of God is unstoppable and indescriminant. Jesus is alive and constantly working to overthrow powers that oppress, and descipleship doesn’t mean coming to church. It means living out the good news of Jesus in every relationship and every chance encounter – less the proclamation that he is risen become but an idle tale. It’s just that simple, and it’s just
that hard. But thanks be to God that – no matter what – there is always room for forgiven sinners like me and you at the table of Christ. Amen, amen, and again I say, Amen!
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