Mark's Resurrection

As we enter Holy Week again, the Gospel of Mark's version of the events surrounding Jesus' resurrection is worth lingering over.  That version, recorded in Mark 16, raises serious questions about the way in which Jesus' followers received the news of his resurrection.  In particular, when the three women who went to the tomb to anoint the corpse heard from a "young man dressed in a white robe" that Jesus was raised from the dead, they, "fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." (Mark 16:8)

If we follow the rule concerning historical documents that a thing is more likely to be true if it is inconvenient to the larger purpose of the author, this account  seems quite credible.  The women didn't see Jesus.  They weren't inspired or fell at his knees.  This was no Pentecost with flames of holy fire.  The empty tomb and the young man scared them out of their wits.  They fled an evident display of God's holy power, and unlike Moses at the burning bush they did not bow down in worship.  They ran.  And in their terror, they told no one.

According to scholars, Mark 16:8 is the end of the original version of the gospel, so far as we know.  If that is the case, it means that Jesus' followers initially greeted his resurrection with fear and silence.  The accounts of the resurrection in the other gospels are much more inspiring, but this one seems more likely.  It is consistent with a tendency found in the gospels to highlight the spiritual ignorance of Jesus' followers—an inconvenient truth that rings true down through the long years since.  It is also consistent with how people of a time when there was a holy terror of things divine would react.  It is also consistent with how three women might react in a male dominated society where they were used to being treated as "just women."  Why risk ridicule?  Finally, the reaction of the three women as Mark describes it is just plain typically human.  Most of us most of the time prefer the known to the unknown, the safe way to the dangerous one; and it makes perfect sense that we do.

This is not the resurrection that the Easter crowd wants to hear about.  It is not the resurrection preached from pulpits on that "glorious and wonderful morn."  This is an account shorn of piety.  In that sense, it may be taken as a call to a faith shorn of piety and the pretensions of religiosity.  We run, we tremble, we keep quiet, but eventually we stop to catch our breath, calm down, and find our voice—eventually.  Amen.

From Herb’s Desk

What follows is my pastoral letter to the good folks of First Presbyterian Church, Lowville, which I would also like to share with the readers of Rom Phra Khun. Blessings. Herb

Skeptics doubt that there ever was a bodily resurrection of Jesus, mostly because such things “just don’t happen.” Easter, for them, is a sham and a scam. In the church, we see things differently. We express confidence in Easter for several reasons. First, we have four eyewitness accounts all confirming “something happened” and that Jesus’ disciples saw him risen from the dead. The followers of Jesus insisted they had seen him. The skeptics remain, of course, skeptical. Maybe the disciples made up the whole thing or, maybe, they experience some kind of mass psychosis. OK, but then there’s a second point that makes us pause. After Jesus’ death, it is clear that the disciples were discouraged and hopeless. Yet, within weeks they were boldly proclaiming the risen Lord and convincing others that Jesus was risen. Something happened, that’s for sure. And, whatever it was, it was not simply a mass psychotic episode (itself highly unlikely) because residents of the small city of Jerusalem joined up. They, too, became convinced that Something Happened.

The third reason we are confident in the Resurrection is that Christians in every generation have felt its power in their own lives. It gives hope to those trapped in hopeless situations. It heals those in need of healing. Generations of Christians have felt the power of the Spirit in their own lives, giving them richer lives. Generations of Christians have given themselves in service to others, sharing the hope and healing of the Cross with the world. The power for good of the Christian movement for two thousand years is witness to the power of the Resurrection and confirmation that indeed Something Happened after Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, dead and buried.

The thing is that Something keeps on Happening. Easter thus is not just the celebration of a 2000 year-old miracle. It is an experience that we celebrate at First Presbyterian Church, Lowville, every Sunday morning of the year. Blessings in this Easter Season! Herb