Christians the world over are celebrating our Life in Christ, our Resurrection Life in Christ. And we are here this Easter Day, joyful, and happy to be together. The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia.

Yet, what is “risen” and just what does it take to make resurrection happen? Given all the work and the many church people planning a Resurrection Liturgy for Easter Day, one might glibly say that the First Easter was a lot easier to pull off! All joking aside, though, would we have enjoyed the first Easter morning all that much? “On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb…found the stone rolled away…went in [but] did not find the body….They were perplexed about this…” (Luke 24:1-2). Right away, we should be realizing that, for all of our resurrection celebrating here, the first Easter was full of fear and a whole lot of empty tomb. Perplexing, isn’t it? But that’s ok, because the Gospel account is getting us a bit more honest about Easter, the way things are, and the way we are. In our own lives, we’ve wondered where God is. We want Christ in our lives, but you know how it is when you can’t seem to really find him, or you have that uncertain, empty feeling: “Am I far away from Christ? Is God far from me?” It is perplexing, just as it was for those who went to the grave that first Easter. “While they were perplexed about this, two men said to them “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen… Don’t you remember? He told you this was going to happen. And then they did remember that Jesus said he would “be crucified and on the third day rise again.” Still, what does that mean—‘he is risen’—when all we see is this empty tomb? “So the women return and tell it all to the apostles. But these words seemed to the apostles an idle tale.” Risen? Indeed! The apostles don’t believe it! “However, Peter got up and ran to the tomb” the same way he had once gotten up and jumped into the sea to wade out to Jesus. So he gets to the tomb, stoops down, looks in, sees only the linen wrappings, no body—just the empty tomb and his own amazement. Voila, the first Easter: no Resurrection appearance, rather, the body’s disappearance.

Again, the Gospel account is keeping us honest, and our developing faith grounded. After all, how many times in life can we count more “empty tomb” experiences than “Resurrection appearances”? That’s why the women and Peter are so prominently framed in this Easter Gospel of Luke’s. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, James’ mother and the other women are wrestling with who-knows-what is going on. And Peter, he’s wondering too. So this first Easter Gospel instead of showing “empty” is revealing much to us. In the confusion, the perplexity, the emptiness, even in the subtle ridicule of the nay saying apostles, the women and Peter are remaining open, sensitive, even vulnerable, to the ways in which God might yet or actually already is doing things. As for those two men in dazzling clothes—don’t get stuck on where they came from or who they are, but do get a sense of where they are sending the women and, in turn Peter, and thereby us. “Why do you look for the living among the dead, he is not here... You cannot expect to find Jesus where you last put him! You must be willing to let God’s new thing happen. Seek Christ as He is, not the corpse you are certain you laid to rest, nor the miraculous-proof-positive-beyond-a-doubt: Look, there he is, our Risen Lord, grab hold of him like some sort of tow rope from a rescue copter, Jesus the supernatural stairway to heaven. NO! Seek him as he is, the One who ministers to people in their empty tombs—the God of healing, peace and reconciliation amidst the ruins of this world’s grand plans.

Throughout his life, Christ walked into the emptiness of human tombs in constant care for the world—aware of our sullied complicities as well as our beauty and potential. Jesus never minimized the problems of evil and the suffering caused; and by taking human suffering seriously, he took restoring human dignity seriously. Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching and preaching and healing every infirmity. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for individuals, harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He went looking for the lost one, bringing back strays, binding the wounded and making the weak strong. This was Jesus living the Resurrection Life even before he died; giving himself to and for others. And when he was murdered, something amazing did happen. Though the authorities condemned him and sought to kill him on a cross, in that very moment Jesus freely gave his life to God. He gave it back as a gift of love, just as he had been giving love all his life. Even in his dying, Christ is rising. Death is defeated. That is, the powers of domination did not and could not break that bond of love. Any one, any group, any nation that seeks to use death or even the threat of death as its weapon of control, cannot control or kill the love of God. God preaches peace and reconciliation—flesh and blood, working hard for peace and reconciliation—in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To anyone, any group or any nation that thinks force, violence or death is a way to a better world, God in Christ shows that the way to peace is One. The only way to peace is the way of peace.

Thus, we sense the meaning of “He is Risen” and what it takes for Resurrection to happen. Jesus was committed to living with God no matter what. To a world that doubts, because it is afraid to believe, the Resurrected Christ appears, with the wounds of the violence inflicted quite visible, but still embodying peace and asking us to do the same. The world is afraid but so were the apostles. The Risen Christ walks among us, with us. He is the ‘first fruits’ as Paul puts it; and we are called to be part of the harvest. Through Christ our bodies become the stuff of resurrection appearances. The first Easter was not easy, no Easter is. Yet, we are happy, we are joyful; we have trust and we keep faith for the Lord is Risen Indeed. Alleluia!

©Thomas F. Reese 4 April 2010

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