“What would happen if they found the body?”
In these Easter days, it’s a question by outside observers of Christianity and by many Christians themselves. People respond in different ways.
There are the literalists, like Thomas in today’s gospel. “Unless I can put my finger in the wounds, I will not believe.” For many Christians, if the resurrection of Jesus is not literally a physical event, it’s a deal-breaker. If they found the body, they’d be outta here.
This is true for many modern-day Westerners: If you can’t verify something as a physical fact in a lab, or with the kind of evidence that would satisfy a court of law, then, for all practical purposes, it doesn’t exist, it didn’t happen. This is sense knowledge, and it’s what many Westerners use to determine what they count as real.
There are others who see the resurrection as a spiritual event, Christ becoming not physically present as he was before his death, but present in a whole new way, even more powerfully present than when he walked the roads of Palestine. This approach uses spiritual knowledge, the kind of knowledge that many here in the West regard as too subtle and evasive.
The fact is, we’ll never know exactly what happened in the tomb of Jesus. Whatever happened inside that tomb is between Jesus and God. Only they know what happened.
No living human being saw what happened inside that tomb, there was no video camera inside the tomb.
All we have are the stories of our spiritual ancestors who came to the tomb after-the-fact. Two of them saw neatly folded clothes. One of them saw angels.
Most of the disciples saw nothing at all because they were still in bed that morning, but as it turned out that did not matter because the empty tomb was not the point.
As Barbara Brown Taylor writes:
There were
Frightened and disillusioned disciples locked behind closed doors to see and forgive and strengthen
The story of Christ’s resurrection is about more than the miraculous resuscitation of a corpse. It’s about a deeper miracle within the first disciples.
Every time he came to his friends they became stronger, wiser, kinder, more daring. Every time he came to them, they became more like him. This is the miracle that clinches the resurrection.
The proof we have for the resurrection has nothing to do with what happened in the empty tomb but rather in the stories our spiritual ancestors gave us about what happened to them when they ran into him. What happened in the tomb was entirely between Jesus and God. For the rest of us, Easter began the moment the gardener said, "Mary!", called her by her name, and she knew who he was. That is where the miracle happened and goes on happening -- not in the tomb but in the encounter with the living Lord.
It’s through the stories our spiritual ancestors gave us that we encounter the risen Lord. In fact, John says this is the entire reason he wrote his gospel, handed on the stories, so that through them we, too, could meet the risen Lord, come to faith, have life.
Elie Wiesel speaks of the old rabbi who, when he saw misfortune threatening the Jews...
"God made man," Wiesel concludes, "because he loves stories."
For us followers of Jesus, it’s through the stories our ancestors gave us that we, like them, experience the true miracle of resurrection, an encounter with the risen Jesus.
But not just their stories. We have our own stories as well.
It is in our stories that we draw close to the risen Lord--stories about how we ourselves have met and been transformed by this resurrected Jesus, made more alive, stronger, kinder.
In the next few weeks, as we did last year, we’ll have the chance to gather in small groups to hear each others’ stories and to share our own.
This year our focus will be different. We’ll be reflecting on our baptisms.
Baptism is the moment that our stories were joined with those of Jesus and of the millions of his followers down through the centuries. We’ll have a chance to reflect on
what our baptismal vows mean for each of us at this moment in our lives,
the challenges we have faced in deciding to make and renew those vows and to live them out.
These small-group sessions will be a chance to mine your own life experiences, comb through your stories to see and savor where that risen Lord has made his appearance in your own life.
Because whether you recognized him or not, the risen Jesus has appeared in your life. It’s a fact. Guaranteed. These story-sharings will be a chance to recognize and savor how he has shown up for each of us.
In the end, our stories--those of our spiritual ancestors and our own--are the evidence we can offer those who ask us how we can possibly believe. We believe because we have found, to our surprise, that we are not alone. Because we never know where the risen Jesus will turn up next.
It was true for the women who came to the tomb, for the disciples locked behind closed doors in fear, for Thomas, and for you and me.
In these Easter days, it’s a question by outside observers of Christianity and by many Christians themselves. People respond in different ways.
There are the literalists, like Thomas in today’s gospel. “Unless I can put my finger in the wounds, I will not believe.” For many Christians, if the resurrection of Jesus is not literally a physical event, it’s a deal-breaker. If they found the body, they’d be outta here.
This is true for many modern-day Westerners: If you can’t verify something as a physical fact in a lab, or with the kind of evidence that would satisfy a court of law, then, for all practical purposes, it doesn’t exist, it didn’t happen. This is sense knowledge, and it’s what many Westerners use to determine what they count as real.
There are others who see the resurrection as a spiritual event, Christ becoming not physically present as he was before his death, but present in a whole new way, even more powerfully present than when he walked the roads of Palestine. This approach uses spiritual knowledge, the kind of knowledge that many here in the West regard as too subtle and evasive.
The fact is, we’ll never know exactly what happened in the tomb of Jesus. Whatever happened inside that tomb is between Jesus and God. Only they know what happened.
No living human being saw what happened inside that tomb, there was no video camera inside the tomb.
All we have are the stories of our spiritual ancestors who came to the tomb after-the-fact. Two of them saw neatly folded clothes. One of them saw angels.
Most of the disciples saw nothing at all because they were still in bed that morning, but as it turned out that did not matter because the empty tomb was not the point.
As Barbara Brown Taylor writes:
[Jesus] could have stayed put, I guess, sitting there all pink and healthy between the two piles of clothes so that everyone could come in and see him, but that is not what he did. He had outgrown his tomb, which was too small a focus for the resurrection. The risen one had people to see and things to do.
There were
Frightened and disillusioned disciples locked behind closed doors to see and forgive and strengthen
- A grieving Mary Magdalene to commission as the apostle to the apostles
- Weary travelers to Emmaus who needed to hear as though for the first time the ancient stories and to break bread with him
- A doubting Thomas who needed a little reassurance
The story of Christ’s resurrection is about more than the miraculous resuscitation of a corpse. It’s about a deeper miracle within the first disciples.
Every time he came to his friends they became stronger, wiser, kinder, more daring. Every time he came to them, they became more like him. This is the miracle that clinches the resurrection.
The proof we have for the resurrection has nothing to do with what happened in the empty tomb but rather in the stories our spiritual ancestors gave us about what happened to them when they ran into him. What happened in the tomb was entirely between Jesus and God. For the rest of us, Easter began the moment the gardener said, "Mary!", called her by her name, and she knew who he was. That is where the miracle happened and goes on happening -- not in the tomb but in the encounter with the living Lord.
It’s through the stories our spiritual ancestors gave us that we encounter the risen Lord. In fact, John says this is the entire reason he wrote his gospel, handed on the stories, so that through them we, too, could meet the risen Lord, come to faith, have life.
Elie Wiesel speaks of the old rabbi who, when he saw misfortune threatening the Jews...
it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished.
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And it was sufficient.
"God made man," Wiesel concludes, "because he loves stories."
For us followers of Jesus, it’s through the stories our ancestors gave us that we, like them, experience the true miracle of resurrection, an encounter with the risen Jesus.
But not just their stories. We have our own stories as well.
- Of going through cancer and managing to take the next step knowing that Someone has gone before you, has fully shared your fear and pain, and will not leave you to face your pain alone
- Of struggling with an addiction, and finding Jesus at your side giving you the healing and forgiveness and hope to take the next step toward recovery
- Immigrant families standing up to injustice and racial hatred because they believe that Jesus is with them each step of the way, giving them courage to speak out
It is in our stories that we draw close to the risen Lord--stories about how we ourselves have met and been transformed by this resurrected Jesus, made more alive, stronger, kinder.
In the next few weeks, as we did last year, we’ll have the chance to gather in small groups to hear each others’ stories and to share our own.
This year our focus will be different. We’ll be reflecting on our baptisms.
Baptism is the moment that our stories were joined with those of Jesus and of the millions of his followers down through the centuries. We’ll have a chance to reflect on
what our baptismal vows mean for each of us at this moment in our lives,
the challenges we have faced in deciding to make and renew those vows and to live them out.
These small-group sessions will be a chance to mine your own life experiences, comb through your stories to see and savor where that risen Lord has made his appearance in your own life.
Because whether you recognized him or not, the risen Jesus has appeared in your life. It’s a fact. Guaranteed. These story-sharings will be a chance to recognize and savor how he has shown up for each of us.
In the end, our stories--those of our spiritual ancestors and our own--are the evidence we can offer those who ask us how we can possibly believe. We believe because we have found, to our surprise, that we are not alone. Because we never know where the risen Jesus will turn up next.
It was true for the women who came to the tomb, for the disciples locked behind closed doors in fear, for Thomas, and for you and me.
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