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Sermon Archives
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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.
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our
Father be with us, in the name of his risen
son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; Amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
Yes, this is the final punchline of God’s
joke on sin, death and the devil! But it is
not the only humor that we see in Jesus’
story; nor is it the only humor that we experience
in the struggle for our lives. I think that
this mysterious gospel writer named Mark found
a little bit of dark humor even during Jesus’
darkest hour, which brought him to the joy
and laughter of the joke on the devil on Easter
Day.
Most people have postulated that this, “young
man” in the story who tells the women
at the tomb about Jesus is actually an angel.
That very well may be - he is a mysterious,
unnamed person who seems to know information
that the women don’t. But I want you
to consider with me that it might just have
been someone else! Consider that the original
Greek word translated as young man, neaniskos,
was last seen in this story back in Mark 14
when, after Jesus was betrayed and arrested,
everyone deserted him and fled. Then, Mark
makes a point of telling about one specific
unnamed, “neanoskis”. You’ve
probably never paid attention to verses 51
and 52 before or it would stick with you:
“A certain young man was following Jesus,
wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught
hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and
ran off naked.” I have to admit, I have
always laughed at those two verses –
they are kind of out of place, since the story
continues with Jesus being taken away and
put on trial. Seeming to have nothing to do
with the story, they just add a little bit
of humor to an otherwise terrible situation.
But now we have another young man. Is it an
angel? I think Mark probably would have used
the Greek word angelos if that was true. This
is a neanoskis. Is it another young man …
or … is it the same one. Could this
be the young man so wanting to get away from
Jesus’ betrayers that he left what little
clothes he had behind to flee? And who is
it? He has no name, but there must be a reason
for him to be included in this story. Story
tellers really don’t mention people
who don’t have anything to do with the
plot of the action taking place! Well …
I want you to consider with me that this young
man is the very person who is writing this
gospel story of Jesus’ crucifixion and
resurrection; yes, consider with me that it
is Mark himself.
Mark wasn’t one of the disciples and
yet he wrote the first of the four gospels
in the early 60s AD. The book of Acts tells
us that he travelled with Paul and Barnabas
on various missionary journeys, and scholars
believe that he probably wrote this Gospel
for the Christian community in Rome while
he was there. As the ultimate joke is pulled
by God on death, this one who hung around
on the fringes and left all to get away is
one of the first at the empty tomb to witness
it first-hand. He is the first to tell about
it. He is no longer in a linen cloth but in
a white robe, calm while all those around
him are alarmed. This one who once fled with
terror and fear is watching as others respond
to his news with terror and amazement! I just
imagine him sitting there, laughing his head
off!
Mark’s story is also our story because
of what Jesus tells these women through him.
He tells them to return to Galilee and they
will see him. Now, I do believe that he meant
this literally, because even though the earliest
copies of Mark’s gospel ends pretty
abruptly right with verse eight, other Gospel
accounts tell of him appearing to his disciples
and others in Galilee. But I also want you
to consider this instruction in the figurative
sense as well. Much like a story-teller will
say, “Return with me to Galilee, the
site where many were raised just as Jesus
has been raised here.” We are instructed
to return to Galilee where Peter’s mother-in-law
was raised from her fever to serve others;
return to Galilee where Levi was raised from
his tax booth to follow Jesus; return to where
the man with the withered hand was raised
to the center of his community’s attention,
to where Jesus was raised from sleep to calm
a storm on the lake, to where a young girl
was raised from a deadly slumber and a blind
beggar rises up to have Jesus restore his
sight and follow Jesus on the way. The young
man is reminding all who have read or heard
this fantastic gospel story (including us)
that Jesus’ resurrection is not just
for us when we die; it is also for us while
we are alive. When all seems lost, when evil
and death seem to be winning the battle, return
to those places and times where Jesus was
there to play jokes on the one who only seeks
our lives and ultimately our deaths, and he
will meet you there again, to once more bring
joy and life to you and to all you love.
I am pretty certain that we have all experienced
loss this past year. Maybe it was the death
of a parent or a child, or another close family
member. Maybe it was the ending of a chapter
on work or relationships; maybe you are just
tired of seeing the headlines of conflict
within our nation and world, shootings, protests,
counter protests, police shootings and police
brutality. Maybe the moral temperature of
our leaders leaves you wondering if there
is a future for our children and grandchildren.
The promise of Easter is YES! There is a future.
Jesus has promised new life and we are going
to be part of it. As a sign of that new life,
we are to travel with him to Galilee, to where
we have already experienced new life within
the setting of this life: Where music has
lifted us to new appreciation of God’s
presence; Where we have seen our children
and other young people achieve incredible
things with passion and hard work; where we
have witnessed acts of kindness and love freely
even in the face of threats and danger. Being
the body of Christ on this earth, we are the
living example of how people find hope in
the middle of hopeless situations!
I want you to laugh today – laugh and
smile and rejoice in the Lord, as the new
banner on the front of the church building
says. Because we are the young (yes young)
men AND women who had once fled for our lives,
not believing that any good could come to
us; but now we are dressed in new garments
– white robes, if you will – and
we are ready to tell the world in our words
and actions that there is hope in Jesus. And
that hope is to be experienced not only in
our futures, but every single day. For Christ
is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia, Amen.
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