lccktacoma.org/pastor
The Gospel of Mark ends with the young man sitting in the tomb saying, “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 naturally the women who heard him fled away in terror and amazement. This is a pretty lousy ending to the Gospel, and Mark really does end there. The sixteen verses following this scene were added later because, well, it was a pretty lousy ending to the Gospel. The church wants to focus on the victorious resurrected Jesus. We want to see Jesus. The thing is, Mark says, if you want to see Jesus, you need to follow him to Galilee, where the work of living as disciples of Christ begins. The women who had gone to the tomb fled in terror. They were seized with awe, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. They had followed Jesus for three years, growing in hope that “the kingdom of God has come near.” Then Jesus was taken from them and crucified.
Three days later they are struggling through the ordinariness of life, going to the tomb to anoint the body with spices, as was the custom. They fuss over who would move the stone away so they can enter. Then God once again breaks through the ordinariness of life. The young man, an angel in the tomb, says in essence, “Remember Jesus told you three times that he would be crucified, and on the third day rise again. He got up and has gone ahead of you to Galilee, like he 2 said he would.” The women respond by running away. I suspect we would have also. But that is not the end of the story. It is the beginning. If the women have fled in terror, who is left to carry on the work of Christ? This unsatisfactory ending to the Gospel points right at you and me. Jesus has gone ahead to Galilee. Galilee is where he proclaimed. “Believe and turn around, the kingdom of God is at hand.” Galilee is where Jesus called the disciples, broke boundaries between people and healed the most vulnerable, made whole those who were possessed by the demonic, taught the disciples to be disciples and live their daily lives. There is no place you can go that Jesus has not already gone ahead. Are you ready to put aside your own fear and embrace the life that Christ has given you? Christ is with you in the messiness and the beauty of your own Galilee. May you know his presence as you go about living your life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
FROM THE PASTOR
Sundays: Categories
All
Archives
February 2024
|