Biblical Words [710]
The story of Jesus is retold as gospel (good
news) by witnesses of his resurrection.
For joy and
witness of the Easter season, the Lectionary turns to the Book of Acts
for the testimony of the apostles. This is instead of the testimony of Moses and the Prophets, the usual "First Readings" in the rest of the year. In this season it is the great fulfillment
that is acclaimed more than the great promise!
The first
reading for Easter Sunday is the speech of Peter to non-Judeans, peoples of the
nations, at the time when God revealed that they too could be baptized and
included in the community of believers.
Peter’s
speech on that occasion is itself a succinct statement of the whole gospel of
Jesus Christ.
It begins,
however, with a strong statement of the inclusiveness of the gospel message -- a new
emphasis within the narrative line of Acts.
“God shows no partiality,” but accepts anyone in every nation who
reverences God and acts accordingly (verse 35).
It is true that God’s message of peace in Jesus Christ was sent first to
the people of
That gospel message includes specific
historical events: the baptism preached
by John, the man Jesus of Nazareth with the power of the Holy Spirit, his
healing works for those oppressed by evil powers, his confrontations with
authorities in Judea, and his death “on a tree” in Jerusalem. His disciples have been chosen by God to bear
witness to these things.
But most of
all, of course, they are to testify to his resurrection: The climax of the gospel message is that “God
raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear” (verse 40).
The risen
Jesus was not seen indiscriminately by everyone, but only by those chosen by
God as witnesses, those who also ate and drank with the risen Lord (verse
41). The gospel message concludes with,
or from another viewpoint begins with, the preaching of Jesus as the final
judge of all peoples (verse 42).
Instead
of a psalm, on Easter Sunday we hear an ecstatic passage from the prophecy
of Isaiah. This is one of the two or
three passages in the entire Hebrew scriptures where a resurrection is
foreseen. (The others are
Here, too, the universality of the message is proclaimed: the Lord is preparing a “banquet” (New Jerusalem Bible) for all peoples. This holy celebration responds to the overcoming of death. What has been the experience of all peoples, the “shroud” and “sheet” that is spread over everyone (death), is swallowed up.
The
witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection must have understood themselves to stand where
this prophecy points:
Lo, this is our God;
I Corinthians 15:1-11.
The reading from the Epistle is the earliest historical evidence in
the New Testament for experiences of the risen Lord.
This passage was written around 54 CE by Paul, himself one of those who
saw the risen Lord. (The Gospel accounts
of the appearances at the tomb and in the locked room were written between 80
and 100 CE.) The passage further claims
to present tradition received by Paul (verse 3), taking us back to only a few
years after Jesus' death.
Here, too,
there is a succinct statement of the essentials of the gospel message: that Christ died for our sins, in accordance
with the scriptures; that he was buried and then raised on the third day, also
in accordance with the scriptures. Then Paul gives the list of those to whom the risen Lord appeared.
There are
three individuals, with two of whom groups are associated.
(1) The
Risen Jesus appeared to Cephas (Peter),
with whom is associated “the twelve,” and then a group of more than five
hundred ("most of whom are still alive" in 54 CE, verses 5-6). The bit about the five hundred may refer to an
early version of the Pentecost tradition.
(2) The
risen Lord also appeared to James, Jesus’
brother, with whom is associated “all the apostles” (verse 7). These are not the “twelve,” but people
associated with James in the leadership of the
(3) Finally
the Risen Jesus appeared to Paul,
who says modestly that he was “the least of the apostles” because of his early
persecution of the believers (verses 8-9).
(Think of Cephas/Peter associated with churches spun out after about 41 CE from Antioch -- northern Syria; James, the Brother, as the leader of the Jerusalem church after about 41 CE; and Paul associated with the chain of his churches founded in Greece and Macedonia in the 50's.)
Since he
includes his own experience along with the others, Paul must think of the other
experiences as similar to his own. Even
if we leave aside the three later descriptions in Acts of Paul's “conversion”
experience (Acts 9:3-9; 22:6-11; 26:12-18), we must understand that Paul's
experience of the risen Jesus was a visionary one, inaugurating the rich
and complex life he knew “in Christ,” totally absorbing and transforming his
whole being. We have remarkable first
person testimony to this epoch-making experience!
All reality
became new for Paul, as a result of his experience of the risen Lord. The experience Paul is talking about could
not be recorded by a journalist or photographed. It was a foundational experience transforming
life. So he understood the experiences
of all the witnesses he cites, that the risen Jesus creates a new life in and
through the believer.
The Gospel
reading reports an empty tomb, strikingly different from Paul's list of
witnesses.
The empty
tomb belongs to the women, and
especially to Mary Magdalene. In Mark these women have stayed around,
not only for the crucifixion and death but also to see his burial place (Mark
They worry
about moving the big stone from the tomb, but when they arrive the chamber has
been mysteriously opened – allowing them to go inside!
The major
event at the tomb is the women’s encounter with the “young man,” who lets them
know what is going on – while the rest of us overhear this amazing news! The
message has several points:
(1)
Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, has risen from the dead, and is
gone.
(2)
The place where he was laid is empty.
(3)
Jesus is going ahead of the disciples to
(4)
The women are to take this whole message to the disciples and
Peter.
And what do
the women do?
They too
finally panic and flee the scene, as the disciples did two days before! They flee, “for terror and amazement [the
Greek words are tromos and ekstasis] had seized them” (verse
8). They realize that a profoundly holy
event has occurred.
Courtesy of
And with
that, Mark's Gospel ends!
(Other
endings, printed separately in modern translations, were provided by
second-century readers who knew the other Gospels and felt compelled to
supplement Mark’s abrupt ending with their better knowledge.)
Until the later twentieth century, commentators often thought that an original ending had been accidentally lost from a very early Mark manuscript – with no other copies surviving. More recent interpreters, however, have come more and more to recognize that all that is needed to understand Jesus’ instructions for the future has been provided (14:27-28, reinforced by the “young man’s” message).
What the disciples (and the women!) must now do
is go back to the beginning, return to
The truest response to the Easter message is to retell the full gospel of Jesus the
Messiah, risen Son of God!
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