Year C

John 20:1-18

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Proof Is In Our Faith

Alleluia! Christ Has Risen!  After the long days of Lent and the grief of Good Friday, Easter brings a much needed relief. Just as spring has been emerging around us, we hear good news of great joy: that death does not have the last word. In the resurrection of Christ, God overcomes the destructive forces of sin, suffering, and death and gives us life. Yet, amid all the special music, flowers and celebrations that are a part of our Easter festivities, it’s easy to forget that news of Jesus’ resurrection is as incredible and hard-to-believe as ever. And no wonder it’s hard to believe. We have no experience with resurrection. When the heavenly messengers first announce the news of Jesus’ resurrection to Mary Magdalene, and in Luke’s resurrection story to the other women, no one says, “Praise God,” let alone, “I knew it.”

A while ago, I read something a distinguished American scholar of ancient history wrote on the proclamation of the resurrection as it would have been heard in the classical world, in first century Palestine. He said, He H”If an educated Greek or Roman had been told that someone had been raised from the dead, “his first question would have been, ‘How do you get him back into his grave again?’ Even the ancient Hebrews, who first made resurrection a positive idea, thought that the resurrection was something that would happen at the end of time, when the good would be raised to receive their reward and the wicked their punishment, as in the prophecy of the prophet Daniel.

The news that someone had been raised from the tomb would have been as disturbing for the Jew as for the Greek. “The point was that most of those who first heard the Easter gospel would have found it grotesque or even frightening. It was a strange idea indeed! As we weigh the evidence today, one factor that many scholars feel is important is that the Gospel writers would not have picked women in a patriarchal society as the initial witnesses of the resurrection if it were a hoax. Definitely not! The scriptures testify that Jesus died and that God resurrected him. And with 20 centuries of historical hindsight, we have grown a bit more comfortable with the idea of Jesus’ resurrection.

Yet, down through the centuries there have been various and sundry attempts to try to discredit the resurrection of Jesus—some amusing, some rather outrageous. The “stolen body” hypothesis is perhaps the most popular among the many explanations. This theory supposes that grave robbers tampered with the tomb and moved the corpse of Christ in the middle of the night. Some even suggest that the robbers were disciples. Others maintain it was Pilate in an attempt to squash a movement that was born anyway.

Then there is the “wrong tomb” theory. The women just got turned around in the dark on that early Easter morning. When they come to the wrong tomb, they see a couple of gardeners who say, “He is not here”. What they meant to say was, “He’s really over there. He is not here.” Have you ever heard of the “lettuce” theory? Also known by some scholars as the “salad” theory? In this scenario, the gardener gets so ticked at curiosity-seekers trampling his new lettuce garden that he physically removes the body of Jesus and plants it elsewhere. I am not making these up. These are actual historical theories.

And what about the “rapid-decay” hypothesis where in Palestine’s hot, muggy climate the body simply decomposed at an alarming rate. Or the best of all, the “twin brother” theory. I’m sure you can figure out the gist of this one. As laughable as these theories are, they each attempt to come at Easter from a rational, scientific angle. “The facts just don’t add up, Mr. Watson, so it can’t be true. Therefore, the resurrection is disproved. Yet, trying to prove the resurrection is a little like trying to prove the existence of God. You can’t prove the truth of Easter or the existence of God through experiments. Resurrection is a matter of faith, a faith that changes everything.

But just how resurrection changes things is not immediately clear in John’s story today, which begins with a lot of confusion. Mary arrives at the empty tomb, runs to tell the disciples who come and go back home, she sees the two angels, meets a stranger, and asks where they’ve taken her Lord. She did not know it was Jesus until the risen Christ says her name then she recognizes him, her teacher and Lord, is alive. When Christ uses Mary’s name, he calls Mary into a new resurrection reality. The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William’s writes, “It’s the risen Christ and not the suffering Christ who is the savior” and calls Mary into this new reality. Paul describes this new reality as one in which we are all made alive in Christ. All who walk by faith and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead are called into this new reality.

 Resurrection reality changes life in this world and it changes what we can hope for beyond the grave. Death is vanquished and we are promised life with Christ forever. But the story doesn’t end there: instead, the risen Christ tells Mary that the resurrection reality in which she now lives is not about living in the past it’s about being commissioned to go and tell others of the resurrection and the new reality it brings. Mary went and witnessed to the disciples “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them all that he had said.

Resurrection is beyond us—we cannot create such a miraculous act. But we can celebrate it, tell about it, and live out of the confidence and hope that it brings to our lives. Because God has raised Jesus from the dead, we can trust God’s promises to us and live out our new resurrection reality by spreading the good news of God’s purpose to save, bless, and redeem the world. You are welcome to try to prove or disprove Easter with a test tube. But to tell you the truth, I’m not sure your findings will matter because resurrection is about faith, hope, trust, and love. “The Lord is risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”