The Resurrection of our Lord, April 4, 2021

Certainties and Possibilities

For many people the empty tomb of Jesus provides a certainty to our faith.  The undeniable and unquestionable truth of Jesus’ resurrection for many believers gives their faith credibility and authority.  There are those who find great comfort in the proofs of the resurrection that are intended to erase all doubts so that we can rest assured that our faith is based on rock solid facts.  But are you certain?  Have you always been certain?  Be honest:  are there times when you are not so sure? Do you ever find that things you once felt very sure about feel less certain now?

And when you feel uncertain, do you begin to hear those accusatory voices from those who feel very certain about things – never had a doubt – always believed it – saying something like this:  “If you don’t feel certain about the resurrection of Jesus or at least as certain as you SHOULD or at least as certain about this as I do you better open up your BIBLE and reread the story.”

OK.  I totally agree. That’s actually a very good idea.  Let’s reread the Easter story again as it was recorded for us today in the Gospel of Mark:

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.  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.”

⁷But 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.” ⁸So 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.

The end.

This is how the Easter story in Mark ends.  In fact, this is how the entire Gospel of Mark ends. It sounds to me like the first witnesses of the empty tomb – the first preachers of the resurrection of Christ were not certain at all – at first.  They were afraid and confused. In fact, they did not do the two things they were told to do at the empty tomb.  They were told not to be afraid – they ran away terrified.  They were told to deliver a message to the disciples – they said nothing to anyone.

This awkward abrupt ending of Mark has puzzled and disappointed many.  But it’s not a mistake.  It’s not like the original ending has been lost.  The oldest manuscripts end right here leaving little doubt that this is where Mark intended it to end.  Of course, there were those who could not leave it so open-ended.  They were thinking, “People need more certainty!  They need to know about Jesus’ appearances to the disciples and how they all believed in him.”  So they added additional chapter and verse to Mark to make it more palatable to those who were looking for a nice “tied up in an Easter bow” ending.  But those forgeries are not Mark’s Gospel. Mark’s Easter story gives us more than certainty; it gives us possibility.

The ending is perfect as it is! Mark is a storyteller and he knows how to pull the reader into the story.  Mark leaves all of us with the intriguing possibility of the empty tomb. That empty tomb means that one loved us enough to die for us and loved us still enough to live with us. And that love and that life pull us in and open up possibilities for us even in our uncertainties.

Even though he doesn’t tell this part of the story, Mark concludes with the possibility that the women who ran away remembered Jesus’ words and promises and slowly began to believe the good news of his love for them.  Mark lets us imagine the possibility that their fear eventually become courage as they realized their friend loved them enough to live alongside of them.  The open-ended ending leads us to consider that the existence of Mark’s Gospel and the existence of the Christian community today means that they eventually DID rely on his love and ultimately DID act on his promises and say something about what they had seen and heard.  Because we wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t have the story of Jesus if they hadn’t.

Mark is speaking to all of us who doubt, who are afraid, who run away, who aren’t sure what to make of a resurrection.  Mark’s ending and the possibilities it offers are especially for those whose own lives are in an awkward, unresolved limbo. For all of us, the empty tomb of Jesus — who loved us enough to die for us and enough even now to live with us — gives more than certainty.  Relying on that love and living in his presence gives US possibility.

The empty tomb is not there for Christians to sit on with our noses in the air and arms crossed feeling very smug and correct and certain.  The empty tomb is not there for us to say, “I’m right and I can prove it.”  The empty tomb is there to show the possibilities that new life can give EVERYONE.  It gives us the possibility that we can adapt to new things – that the living Christ can breathe new life into tired old bones — that we can transition to changes in our lives with faith and trust in Christ’s love for us.  It gives us the possibility that we can see our lives in new ways and our neighbor in a new light. It gives us the possibility that we can face sickness or troubles or even a lingering pandemic with courage — the possibility that we can face death itself knowing that a living Christ is always with us and promising us abundant life.  And maybe you are here today because you are open to those possibilities. . .

Of this we can be sure; wherever we are, whoever we are, whatever our questions, whatever our doubts, whatever our fears, we all stand today looking into a tomb that was emptied by one who loves enough to die for us and who loves us enough even now to promise his presence in our lives. And I am certain that where there is the presence of Christ and the promise of his love, there will always be endless possibility.