Acts 10: 34-38; Psalm 118: 1–2, 14-24; I
Corinthians 15: 1-11; Mark
16: 1-8
A
homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given
at St. John’s Church, Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania, on Sunday, April 5, 2015.
“THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FIRST EASTER AND THE SECOND EASTER”
(Homily texts:
I Corinthians 15: 1 – 11 & Mark 16: 1 – 8)
We can learn a lot about the Easter
event by comparing the experiences of Jesus’ disciples as they went to His tomb
early on that first Sunday morning to the second Easter morning, one year
later.
Let’s look, first of all, at Jesus’
followers as they experience the events that led up to that first Easter day:
We must back up and begin with
Jesus’ betrayal, arrest and trial, which happened on Thursday evening. As Judas arrives with a band of armed men,
Jesus’ disciples all flee. Jesus is led
away, first to the Jewish authorities, and then to the Roman governor, Pilate.
Pilate condemns Jesus to die by
crucifixion. Jesus’ mother, some other
women, and one of His disciples[1]
witness the event. Jesus’ side is
pierced with a spear. The soldiers
determine that Jesus is dead.
Two of Jesus’ followers, Nicodemus
and Joseph of Arimathea, come to Pilate and ask permission to receive Jesus’
body and prepare it for burial. Joseph
of Arimathea provides his own tomb to receive the body, and they bring spices
and a linen cloth so that Jesus may be buried in accordance with Jewish
customs. Mary Magdalene and another Mary
witness the burial.
(At this point, it would be good for
us to remember that many victims of death by crucifixion were never buried at
all. Their bodies were simply taken down
from the cross and were, most likely, simply dumped somewhere in the area. Some scholars think that that is the reason
for the place of crucifixion being called “The Place of a Skull”, because the
bones and skulls from previous crucifixion victims were lying on the ground in
the area.)
The chief priests and the Pharisees
find out about the burial arrangements, and they petition Pilate to affix a
seal to the tomb and to post a guard so as to prevent Jesus’ body from being
stolen. The seal that was placed on the
tomb is a bit like a “No Trespassing – State Property” sign we might see today.
So the sum total of all of these
events is that Jesus really died. He
died a public death which was witnessed by many.[2] He was given a known burial place, and His
body was protected from theft by a guard and by the protection of a Roman seal.
Jesus’ disciples, on that first
Easter Sunday, come to the tomb with these facts in mind. They know that Jesus is dead, for no one gets
off a Roman cross alive. They know where
to find His body. Approaching all these
things from a purely human point-of-view, they come to mourn, they come to
anoint Him. They wonder how the large
stone will be rolled away.
From a purely human vantage point,
the story should end right here. After
all, by human reckoning, the Lord is dead, and the reality of death is the
final reality.
But the Easter event isn’t a normal
human event, and it doesn’t operate by normal human standards and expectations.
They find the tomb is empty and the
stone has been rolled back from the entrance.
Mary Madgalene encounters the risen Lord and doesn’t recognize Him until
He calls her by name.[3] You see, Mary is operating from a purely
human, normal point-of-view. Once she
recognizes the Lord, she runs to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”
Then, Jesus begins to appear to
various people. He passes through a
locked door and says to the disciples, “Peace be with you.”[4] He appears and asks the disciples if they
have anything to eat, for He is hungry.[5] He tells them that they are welcome to touch
Him, for He has flesh and blood, not like a ghost, He says.[6] He appears to Thomas a week after that first
Easter Sunday, and He tells Thomas, “Put your hand into the print of the nails,
and put your hand into my side. Do not
disbelieve, but believe.”[7] Thomas’ response to this invitation is, “My
Lord and my God.”
The list of those who were given the
gift of being eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection is quite long. That seems to be the point of St. Paul’s
writing to the early Christians in Corinth.[8] In I Corinthians 15, a passage we’ve heard
this morning, Paul tells us that the Lord appeared to 500 people at one time,
“Most of whom are still alive,” Paul says.
The reality of God’s awesome power,
a power so strong that it is the power over death itself, comes crashing into
the perceptions of each one to whom the Lord appeared. Their normal, human point-of-view is forever
altered by having seen the Lord, by having been able to touch Him and to know
that He had risen from the dead with His body intact. God raised Jesus from the dead, overcoming
the effects of the scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails and the spear
wound in His side. Jesus returns to life
as complete as He had been before the events of Good Friday. Our humanity is forever united to God in
Christ. Our humanity is redeemed by this
process.
What about that second Easter
Sunday, the one that came to pass one year after the first one?
It would be easy to imagine the
thoughts and reflections of those to whom the Lord had appeared. Perhaps some of them remembered that they
doubted that the Lord would rise again.
Perhaps some of them remembered that they had not paid enough attention
to the Lord’s prediction that He would rise again on the third day. Perhaps some of them remembered with some
amount of shame that they did not see these events from God’s perspective.
Perhaps some of us today are in the
same place as those early disciples were.
Perhaps we doubt that the resurrection is a real event that took place
at a point in history. Perhaps we see
things from a purely human point-of-view, and so dismiss the possibility that
God could do for Jesus what the Scriptures say happened.
But the proof of the reality of the
resurrection lies in the effects that Jesus’ appearances had on those who
witnessed Him in His risen state…their lives were forever changed. Each one went out and proclaimed to the world
that God had acted in the person of Jesus Christ to overcome every challenge,
even the challenge of death itself.
Their convictions were so strong that every one of the original twelve
disciples, except for one,[9]
suffered a martyr’s death. For they knew
that even a martyr’s death could not separate them from God’s power to raise
them to new life in the kingdom of God, a new life that was possible because
they had witnessed God’s power in the risen Christ.
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
[1] In John 19: 26 – 27. The passage describes this disciple as “the
one whom Jesus loved”. Traditionally,
this individual is known as John.
[2] One non-biblical confirmation of Jesus’
crucifixion can be found in the writings of the first century historian,
Josephus. Josephus also records that
there were reports that Jesus was resurrected.
[3] John 20:14 - 16
[4] John 20:21
[5] Luke 24:41 - 43
[6] Luke 24: 39
[7] John 20:27
[8] Most scholars date Paul’s first letter to
the Corinthian church from the year 50 or 51 AD, while other scholars date the
letter from the timeframe of 53 – 55 AD.
If these estimations are correct, it would mean that Paul is writing
some twenty or so years after Jesus’ resurrection.
[9] Tradition tells us that only one of the
original twelve disciples lived out a full lifetime. That one, by tradition, is the Beloved
Disciple, John. Tradition says that John died a very old man, about the year 90
AD.
