impossible surprise

Scripture:  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.

Observation:

3 women go to the tomb of Jesus to prepare his body for a proper burial.  They aren't certain how they will access the sealed tomb.  In their grief, they haven't thought ahead. When they arrive, the tomb is already open!  Inside, they find a man in a white robe.  It is not Jesus.  He says, "You seek Jesus of Nazareth who has been crucified.  He was raised.  He is not here."  He orders them to look at the place where they laid his body. His absence is supposed to mean something to them, remind them of what Jesus said to them before.  And then he orders them to go and tell the others that Jesus is going to Galilee and will see them there.  But, instead they say nothing to nobody, for they were afraid.  And that is the end of the story.  It begs a lot of questions.  1. Who rolled away the tombstone.  2. Who was the man in white?  3.  Why didn't Jesus himself appear to them?  4.  Why must they return to Galilee?  5. Why does God choose terrified women as the first witnesses of the resurrection?

Application:

Resurrection is not normal or natural.  It was unexpected, surprising, and terrifying.  His absence and their silence are about all Mark gives us.  Crucified and raised.  Two passive verbs describe Jesus' state of being.  Apparently, he is also traveling on the road to Galilee.  Dead people don't typically travel. 
Initially, Easter's message is delivered by an unknown surrogate. Is he an accomplice?  In Matthew's account, he is an angel. In Luke's story, there are two men dressed in white.  In John's story, two angels in white appear to Mary Magdalene.  In Matthew's and John's accounts, Jesus also appears outside the tomb.  In Luke's gospel Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, yet they fail to recognize him. He walks and talks with them.  And when they break bread for supper together, they see that this man is in fact Jesus, and then he disappears! The accounts differ.  Where the account of his final days and hours are strikingly similar, the accounts of Easter vary dramatically.  All four accounts suggest one thing though:  Jesus is no longer dead.  He is, somehow,  alive. 
The first followers of Jesus struggled (and even failed) to believe, understand, trust, recognize, and interpret what happened on the Sunday after his death and burial.  And yet without their testimony, their telling of the story, their interpretation of this surprising experience, would Christianity exist at all?  Why didn't the first century church edit these stories to tell a more favorable, consistent, and credible story?  Easter faith is a bold, audacious, foolish, unprecedented claim that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, died and was buried.  And that he rose from the dead.  The inconsistencies and blemishes point to two things:  the crazy realness of this experience and the need for faith to believe the impossible.  Before we consider the meaning of this story, we need to sit with it.  He was dead and was made alive again.  How do we feel about this story?  What response do you have to it? If you were hearing this story for the first time, what would you think?  What else is possible, if this is true? What can we say about Jesus, about God, in response?

Prayer
    It's hard to believe, Lord.  An impossible surprise.  What else compares to this story?  Easter faith is the news that the impossible has happened, a man was raised from the dead.  Help me to believe this news and see Jesus in a new way---as more than a teacher and leader and spiritual man and healer and prophet of divine justice/mercy, who was killed because of his work.  He is alive!  Amen.