The Lord is risen! Alleluia!

It is early morning on Sunday. The sabbath is over. Jesus’ devoted women friends have been preparing ritual spices with which to anoint the body of their beloved Master and Teacher. They are now hastening to the tomb where the body had been so hastily laid just as the sabbath was about to begin. The accounts of the gospels show that only the women lingered as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought Jesus’ body down from the Cross and entombed it, so only they knew exactly where the tomb was. They had seen the great stone rolled across the entrance and are now wondering how they will get past it. They are determined to go anyway, trusting that someone will help them.

As they approach the tomb, they are amazed and probably relieved to find that the stone has been rolled away. But when they go into the tomb they find no body. Instead, suddenly, two bright figures appear telling them that Jesus is not there. He is risen, as he had foretold. The women are terrified and bow down. Then they turn and run away.

From here the Gospel accounts begin to vary. Mark says that the women were too frightened to tell anyone. Luke, Matthew and John say that they ran to tell the disciples, who do not believe them. Only Peter wants to find out what is going on. He runs to the tomb, but all he finds there are the linen cloths in which the body was wrapped. So he rejoins the other followers of Jesus in the Upper Room.

It is worth noting that all the persons mentioned or referred to by the evangelists in their several accounts were still living when Jesus rose from the dead and after he ascended into heaven. By the time the gospels were written, many had died. But there were still plenty of living eyewitnesses to testify to the events of that momentous day. Why then do the four gospels seem to tell us such different things?

Well, partly because certain people remembered vividly the experiences which had meant most to them. So Mary Magdalene remembered meeting her Lord in the garden. The disciples who walked the Emmaus Road remembered their talk with the stranger and their recognition of him as their Lord when they broke bread together. 

The differing Gospel accounts mostly come together when Jesus meets his closest followers later that day in the Upper Room. Even then Thomas’ personal experience is singled out for special mention. The eleven collectively see their Lord again and know that they are forgiven for deserting him in the garden.

But otherwise, as to who went where and in what order, it’s confused. If any of you ever watch police and crime shows on television, you will probably have noticed how different individual person’s recollections are of one important event. I think that is what has happened here, especially as the four gospels were all written years after it all took place.

We must be forever grateful that the records of these individual experiences were preserved and handed down to us. But we were not there. Try as we may, we cannot share the depth of Mary’s sorrow and joy in the garden. We cannot share the despair of the disciples on the road to Emmaus nor their joy at the table when they recognised their Lord. We need to have the reality of the resurrection brought home to us as we are today.  

That is why this morning’s two other readings are so important for us. Peter and Paul knew too that their listeners or readers would never experience what those early followers of Jesus experienced. So they go to the heart of the matter. Peter tells his Gentile listeners about the reality of Jesus, and that his message is meant for them. Paul explains to the Corinthians the significance of Jesus’ life and death. He affirms to them the reality of the resurrection, witnessed by many people, some of whom are still living.

We need to hear this message. We need to hear the facts as they are presented to us in the gospels. But we need more than that. We need to know that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead, and that what he said and taught, and what he was, speak to us today as they spoke through Peter to Cornelius and his family, and through Paul to the Corinthians. We know that sometimes we have deserted Jesus, sometimes we have denied him, sometimes we have doubted him. But because he was raised from the dead, because he lives, we know that we are forgiven. So let us be thankful today and celebrate with joy our Lord who died and was raised for us and for all Christians everywhere. Amen.

The Lord is risen! Alleluia!

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!