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St David's: Easter 2006: Mark 16:1-8 W.P. Mahedy

The young man sitting in the empty tomb of Jesus told the women not to be alarmed, for Jesus had been raised from the dead and was on his way to Galilee. They were to tell Peter and the disciples that the risen Jesus was going there ahead of them and they would see him there. Did these consoling words comfort the women? Of course not, the Gospel tells us that they were seized with terror and amazement. They were afraid.

And why would they not be afraid? Their whole world had just been turned upside down. Life had been forever changed. Their fundamental understanding of life and death had been irrevocably altered. They were quite literally living in an entirely new dimension. The promises to Israel had been fulfilled in a way that was incomprehensible. Israel had been delivered from the tyranny of its Roman oppressors and the corruption of its own leadership. Yes, Jesus had truly been the Messiah, the promised one, but the magnitude and extent of their deliverance was beyond comprehension. It was only later, after these first fearful moments had past that the full truth would become clear to the followers of Jesus.

Through Jesus not only Israel, but the entire world had entered into and experienced the first glimmer of a new creation which is the ultimate goal of the entire cosmos. In the confusion of the first Easter appearances, the disciples could not comprehend the full extent of what had happened. The Spirit would clarify at Pentecost, and then they would begin to understand. The magnitude of what happened still startles us after two thousand years. For not only is he the true Paschal Lamb, who was sacrificed for us, not only has he taken away the sin of the world. But by his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life.

But there is even more, for the passage from Isaiah we have just read is literally true: "he will swallow up death forever." As Peter told his hearers: "He is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead." He is, as Paul would later say: "The first fruits of those raised from the dead." And as Paul would also write of the risen Christ: "Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." He is the "Firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him."

Today we celebrate this, he bedrock foundation of our faith. Easter is the primordial, and in a sense, the only Christian feast. All else is subordinate to Easter. The risen Christ is Lord of all. He has the power over sin and suffering and even over life and death. It is the risen Christ to whom we turn in times of terrible distress. It is he who stands in our midst as our rector struggles with cancer. He is with us as we face our own failing health. He alone offers us hope in a world of mindless violence, unending wars and spreading poverty and now the threat of preemptive tactical nuclear attacks. It is he who will judge the rulers of this world. It is He who will bind up the wounds of the world and reconcile all things to God through his death and resurrection. It is He who will greet us at the first moment of our entrance into eternity. It is He who is the guarantor that we too shall rise from the dead with him.

All this is implied and understood in that most ancient of Christian greetings. When one follower of Jesus encountered another, the truth was first proclaimed: "Christ is risen." And the response was "The Lord is risen indeed." So, let us shout it out: Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. And to this risen Lord be all power, might, dominion and majesty now and forever. Amen