Reading Resurrection
The Gospel of Matthew ends with a resurrected Jesus and his disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where he assures them he will be with them until the end of the age. Luke’s gospel ends with a resurrected Jesus eating some fish, speaking to his disciples about fulfilling prophecy, and then ascending to heaven. In the Gospel of John, Jesus appears to disciples on three occasions following his resurrection. The book ends with him cooking breakfast, then giving instructions to two of them.
Not so in Mark’s gospel, which tells of an early-morning visit to Jesus’ tomb by Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. They do not find the body of their friend there; instead, they have an encounter with a young man dressed in white who tells them Jesus has arisen. They are to go and tell Peter and the disciples. The final line in the oldest known manuscripts of Mark tell us that they “went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
If you find that ending unsatisfying, you’re not alone. I know I used to be in that camp, and was somewhat offended at the abrupt finale. I preferred what’s known as “the longer ending of Mark,” which can be found in many Bibles, even though most Biblical scholars agree that its components were added years after the initial composition due to the writing style and vocabulary. Biblical scholar Warren Carter writes that it adds “positive endings that clarify and reassure.” (Carter, 682)
It sounds like that wasn’t what the original author of Mark intended, though, so perhaps it’s good to take a closer look at what is included in verses 1–8.
In some ways the original version does bring closure. Jesus had predicted on at least three occasions that he would be raised after three days. (Carter, 683) When the women approached the tomb and saw the large stone rolled away, they might have feared that the body of Jesus had been stolen. If that was so, the young man in the tomb, who some interpret as an angel, would have allayed their concern by telling them Jesus was raised and “not here.” The mere absence of his body following all that has occurred is significant. As biblical scholar William Placher writes, “Theologically, the empty tomb secures the reality of the resurrection of Jesus’ body.” (Placher, 246) Considering the manner in which he was killed, his rising in both spiritual and physical form is significant, especially considering the popular conception at that time that the body was a burden from which one should wish to be freed.
Another significant aspect of this gospel reading is that women are central to the story. The gospels were written at a time and in a context when that was unusual, so this speaks to the role women must have played among Jesus’ disciples and in the early church. Placher incorporates Occam’s Razor in this verdict: “Given that age’s suspicion of the testimony of women, the most plausible explanation for why Mark has women discover the empty tomb is that it happened that way. No one would have invented the story in this form.” (Placher, 245) Thus the most likely explanation is his favorite.
Finally, there’s the matter of the trembling, astonishment, and fear named in the final line. Reading this, one might think the women ran off, never to be seen again. We know that didn’t happen, though; if it had, we wouldn’t know this story. Many of us are at the mercy of the English translation of the Greek, so it’s worthwhile to see how else these words can be translated. Alternatives include “more ‘awe’ or ‘amazement,’ even epiphany, than fright.” (Carter, 686) Regardless of which you choose, I don’t think we are in a position to judge what the correct reaction should have been in the face of such an amazing turnaround. Mary, Mary, and Salome expected to be confronted with the mutilated corpse of their friend that morning; instead, they were faced with the unthinkable possibility that he was alive. I suspect it took a while for that to sink in, let alone the greater possibilities the resurrection represented.
Sometimes devastating loss occurs quickly, and sometimes it occurs slowly. The disciples saw Jesus enter Jerusalem in triumphant fashion on Sunday, and die a painful and humiliating death five days later. Their world was shattered, seemingly beyond repair. It appeared to be the same old story — hope lost at the hands of the powerful and corrupt.
Last week, we saw incredible destruction occur in minutes as a boat collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The quick action of those who monitor the bridge helped prevent a greater loss of life, but that does not ease the suffering of the family and friends of the six who died.
We also see devastating loss playing out over months and years as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza continue. Every day brings additional destruction and death, and it’s possible to feel as helpless watching those events occur as I felt watching a video of the barge approaching the pillar it would strike beneath the Key Bridge.
We mourn these losses even as a more slowly-developing tragedy brings about suffering on a global scale. Every day we’re confronted with more information about the effects the human-caused climate catastrophe is having on the world and its inhabitants. Longer, more intense heat waves. Increasingly destructive storms, floods, and other disasters. Loss of land where we can grow food. Loss of species and ecosystems. More climate refugees and conflicts around resource scarcity. It’s almost as if we’re watching a powerless barge float threateningly toward the infrastructure that sustains human life.
There’s a significant difference, though. While the last thing the barge pilot wanted to do last Tuesday was run into the bridge, those steering us toward increased climate catastrophe know exactly what they’re doing, and have for decades.
It’s a misnomer to use the term “human-caused” when referring to the climate catastrophe. The vast majority of humans are not responsible for maintaining the practices, systems, and laws that are driving us toward an uninhabitable planet; those who profit from those practices, systems, and laws are. That’s why the term to describe this era of human influence on the world is shifting from being called the Anthropocene to being called the Capitalocene; it’s the economy of exploitation and extraction that poses the greatest threat to the ecosystems that allow humans to flourish.
The reaction of some people of faith to this crisis has been that God will bail us out somehow, and we should continue on our present course until that happens. That ignores the message of the gospel, however. Throughout his ministry, Jesus promoted a different way of life. His teachings were counter-cultural, opposing the practices, systems, and laws that championed the wealthy and powerful. So approaching the climate catastrophe with a “business as usual” approach is not compatible with following Jesus.
It also represents bad theology. God created this world in a manner that sustains human life because God wanted the world to sustain human life. And God created the bodies we inhabit for a reason as well. As Placher writes, “a great deal of suffering and misguided advice down the centuries might have been avoided if Christians had remembered that the human body is a good thing. The empty tomb provides an important way of affirming that bodies are not something we should hope to cast aside.” (Placher, 246–247)
We’re not headed toward an ethereal reality of clouds where we’ll grow wings and carry harps. The new earth God promises will be inhabited by bodies, resurrected in the model of the Jesus who has gone ahead to wait for our arrival.
Looking at a prior scripture passage, some find parallels between the subject in Isaiah chapter 50 and Jesus. It includes lines like “the Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” The behavior Jesus exhibited following his arrest might have recalled later verses:
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
This nonviolent response to the forces of power was present among the biblical prophets, in the behavior of Jesus, and continues in the prophets of our day. Logic suggests it shouldn’t work, that those with the superior force will win. But as Carter writes, “their death-effecting power cannot compete with God’s life-giving power.” (Carter, 684) That power is channeled through peace, not violence.
The prophet goes on to write,
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord GOD who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Jesus was alone in shouldering his burden. Thankfully, we are not in such a position. We can act in community, supporting our siblings in need and calling on our peers when we ourselves are in need. When facing seemingly insurmountable challenges like the climate catastrophe, we are armed not only with Jesus’ teachings, but also the promise and example of his resurrection. As Carter writes, “God’s faithfulness, justice, and saving power extend beyond death to the age to come in overcoming a tyrant, repairing his damage, restoring his victim, and establishing God’s just and life-giving purposes.” (Carter, 684)
So perhaps this quick ending to Mark’s gospel is all of the resurrection reading we need for today. Perhaps, as Placher writes, “a more confident story with better ‘closure’ would comport less well with faith that in its nature lacks confidence and closure, or it would not be faith.” (Placher, 243)
Navigating a more faithful way of life isn’t always easy, and it can be hard to envision considering the obstacles in our path, but the resurrection offers hope that somehow we will reach a better future.
Easter offers us an opportunity to celebrate. Christian tradition in our country often finds Jesus-followers dressing up for church services, participating in egg hunts, sharing candy (perhaps after a 40-day abstinence), and enjoying a holiday meal. It is a fitting conclusion to the observance of Lent, during which we somberly reflect on our mortality as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus.
What I think we should resist, though, is the tendency to return to “business as usual” following Easter. Easter is a time for celebration, but I’d suggest it’s also a time for determination. Determination to live a life informed by the resurrection and the hope it engenders. Determination to live in a manner informed more by the message of Jesus than by dominant culture. Determination to see past what looks like assured victory by those in power, to a future governed by kin-dom values.
Professor and pastor Timothy Adkins-Jones writes that
This is exactly what we have today. We come with the expectation of death in this dying world all around us, and then we receive a word of resurrection. . . . Maybe if we take resurrection seriously the only immediate response is to be unsettled. For what can be more disorienting than being provided evidence that the single most constant reality of life — death — is no longer a constant? (Adkins-Jones)
While we’re calling into question constant realities, let’s add the perception that we are passive passengers on a boat piloted by those profiting from exploitation and extraction. While we’re listing determinations, let’s add an item for holding those in power accountable. The way forward might look like it ends in defeat at their hands, but the empty tomb suggests otherwise.
As Pastor Timothy writes,
If we really believe in this resurrection, we must believe it down to our very bones. You can’t halfway believe in resurrection. Either he got up from the grave, or he didn’t. And if we really believe that he got up, then that belief should transform our every day: who we are and what we do has to be different. . . . Belief in the resurrection changes our very existence, right here and right now. It’s a confidence that breaks the chain of limitations that we put on ourselves, one that allows us to be at our best in this world. (Adkins-Jones)
Celebration. Determination. Transformation. The world changed with the events that came from that quiet, vacated tomb. From the three women who spoke to the young man to a worldwide population of Jesus-followers, the message of resurrection lives on. As the prophet wrote, who will contend with us when we stand up together?
My friends, I wish you a happy and blessed Easter, and I pray its message stays with us beyond the celebration today to the celebration that is to come.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Works Referenced
Adkins-Jones, Timothy. “In the Lectionary.” Christian Century Vol. 141, №3 (March 2024): 31.
Carter, Warren. Mark (Wisdom Commentary Series Book 42). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2019. Kindle Edition.
Placher, William C. Mark: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: a Theological Commentary on the Bible). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. Kindle Edition.
