A Scandalous Resurrection
Mark 16:1-8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
__________
In many ways, it's an ordinary day for Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salmone. Yes, their friend and companion, a beacon of hope, Jesus, had just died, was propped up on a cross and carried to a dark tomb, yet the reality for these women is that death and loss of hope is nothing new. Under Roman occupation, under corrupt and unjust rule, the death of Jesus was to be expected. Except on this seemingly typical day, something is wrong. They arrive at the tomb to see that the stone rolled away and Jesus, Jesus, is nowhere to be found. And so the women flee in "terror and amazement," keeping silent about what they saw, a scandal that would upend the very foundation of the world as they knew it.
I want to set aside Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Salome, and the scandalous resurrection for a moment and ask, "What is our obsession with hiding or tucking away? And why do we accept that this compulsive behavior is the norm?" The Bible contains countless individuals who've tried to bury things or keep them from seeing the light of day. Anchan hides treasure after the fall of Jericho, the servant in the Parable of the Ten Talents hides their portion in the ground for fear of loss; Adam and Eve hide behind the trees to cover their shame. It appears that not much has changed, as we still add our hopes, fears, and losses to the tomb, sealing them away, thinking that this is how the world works.
We expect the tomb and what it represents (death and its finality) to be the final resting place for things that didn't work out how we hoped. A job that we were hoping to hear back from never calls us back. A relationship that was blossoming withers and fades. A fear of what others will think about us (because we don't quite fit the mold) because we've been hurt before by people. All these things and more we set in the tomb and expect them to stay there as monuments that remind us never to get our hopes up again because this is how the world operates. And this brings us back to the scandalous resurrection, the moment when the women flee in terror and awe because what they anticipated was shattered by a new way of life.
The writer of Mark tells us that the women are alarmed (exethambēthēsan), disturbed by this highly unusual event, and distressed by the scandal of an empty tomb. What happened? Where did Jesus go? Who is this mysteriously robbed person? Like the women who flee, we can't wrap our heads around resurrection. It is difficult for us to imagine a world without the fear of death, without the systems of oppression that bind us. However, that is what makes the resurrection so scandalous. It is the turning of the world on its head; what we thought was finished is a new beginning, what we thought was dying hope is time for reflection, and what we thought was the normal going ons of the world is not actually normal. And while we, like the women, are told to go and spread this news, it's a lot to process.
The resurrection liberates us from the grip of the tomb, transforming it from a place of confinement and finality to one of possibility and renewal. While it may be challenging to experience resurrection life amid global conflicts, poverty, injustice, and prejudice, this is precisely why we need resurrection life and what makes it a revolutionary movement. In the scandal of the resurrection, we are urged to challenge the narrative of our time, to defy death's dominion by cultivating spaces where life and hope can flourish. By embracing attitudes and actions that foster vitality and inclusivity, we contribute to the realization of the kin-dom of God—a vision of life together that is not driven by what the world identifies as success. In this paradigm, the tomb no longer symbolizes defeat but instead serves as a catalyst for transformative growth and renewal.
There is an open and ongoing invitation to participate in the scandalous resurrection that shatters the silence of the tomb and proclaims the promise of resurrection and new life. Though our first instinct is to flee, we are challenged to redirect that instinct and instead invest in the life-affirming and life-giving ministry of unexpected hope. You might think you can't participate, yet now more than ever, we need resurrection hope that dispels all that is not of the life-way of God. This lifeway welcomes all, rolls away the stone, tears down the walls that divide us, and provides a table for all to sit and partake of the kin-dom of God. We can undoubtedly sit with the terror and awe of the resurrection, but let us not forget how scandalous it truly is and how it invites us to share and participate in something life-altering as rolling away a stone.
I want to leave you with this thought: Whether you are a lifelong believer, new to the faith, or have no faith and are here because you love your family (or were dragged here), you can participate in the radical work of resurrection. All you need to do is love, love, because the world is lacking love. You can act justly because whether you are someone with means or none, the world needs advocates to lend their voices and people with empathetic hearts. You can be a person who sits with someone who finds themselves stuck in a deep, dark tomb and be with them until they move out. The beauty of the Easter message is that it is a calling we all can participate in as we journey along this path of life and faith together.
We all have things that we have put inside the tomb (literal or metaphorical). But the resurrection immediately gets our attention by saying that what we thought was dead is no longer there. It awakens within us the gift we each possess to breathe and bring new life into the places that are hurting, the areas that need restorative justice, and the places that need an advocate. Wouldn't life be better if we could shift our energy from burying our hopes and moving to investing that energy into the life we share with one another? That is what makes the resurrection scandalous to this day, and it is a goal or an aim that we (regardless of our faith or lack of relationship with God) should strive to work towards.