Readings were Isaiah 25, 6-9 and Mark 16, 1-8
As we celebrate Easter, I’d like to ask, what does the Christian teaching of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead mean?
Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 25 poses this question in its expectation that God will destroy death. In actual fact, there is almost no certain resurrection hope in the Old Testament, but Isaiah uses metaphorical language to describe the nature of the era that would result from God's saving intervention. In the short term he was talking about a return to Jerusalem from exile – reference to “On this Mountain” is intended to mean the city built on Mount Zion. As we read the passage with our New Testament Easter perspective, it is hard to avoid reading the cross and the resurrection into verses like “on this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples… he will swallow up death forever.” Today of all days, these words evoke a dramatic picture of Calvary’s hilltop scene, and of Matthew’s image of the Temple veil being torn in two as Jesus died. The first thing resurrection means then, is that death need not be the end.
This theme is echoed in Revelation 21, which speaks of the New Jerusalem, the ultimate intimacy with God, where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain. This is what the resurrection of Jesus opens up for us. The language of salvation in Isaiah 25 points us to the work of Jesus upon the cross, and the love of God in raising him from the dead. So the second thing resurrection means is that we can be in a personal relationship with God, both in Christ and because of what he achieved.
But who is “we”? In the Old Testament as a whole, the focus is on God’s relationship with his chosen people, the Jews. In this passage however there is a prefiguring of the New Testament’s re-definition of that term, as the biblical hope for Israel is extended to include all of humankind. This universal hope and the promise that death is irrelevant make this an entirely appropriate passage to be thinking about on Easter Sunday. What Jesus won by conquering death is available to all who put their trust in him, not just people of one ethnic group. Even this seems to be prefigured in Isaiah 25 verse 9; “This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” So the picture Isaiah paints of a people returning to their home city has become a picture of the Kingdom of God, of those who by putting their trust in Christ have been delivered from death and will dwell with God. The third thing that resurrection means is the redefinition of humanity as potentially all being the people of God. No one is outside this scope, no matter how evil they may appear; the victory of the cross and the empty tomb is just as available to a mass murderer as it is to you and me. We would both simply have to place our faith and trust in Christ, and the burden of our sin, whether great or small, is washed away.
So what actually happened at the resurrection? Well Mark 16 is as interesting for what it does not say as for what it does say. It describes the appearance of an angel but not that of Jesus himself. When we set Mark’s account alongside the writings and theology of St Paul, Paul has no description of the empty tomb and Mark has no description of the resurrection appearances.
In fact we must read both narratives in the light of each other. The empty tomb, as described in the Gospel, is an unambiguous symbol which finds its meaning when read alongside the resurrection appearances, which we will be looking at over the coming weeks. The resurrection appearances gain their definitive meaning from the description of the empty tomb. Put together, the Easter message is that Jesus, in rising from the dead, was revealed as a glorious heavenly being who was entitled to universal worship. The absence of a body supports a faith in the resurrection of the body rather than just a separation of body and spirit. The fourth thing that resurrection means then is that in Christ God re-drew the boundaries of heaven and earth, and opened the gate between them.
The original version of the Gospel probably ended at Mark 16.8, since what follows is a kind readers’ digest version of the resurrection appearances from the other gospels. If this is the case, the subtle absence of full narrative closure is striking. The women said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Indeed, the original Greek wording appears unfinished: 'they were afraid of … ' what? We never find out. Somehow, Mark is hanging on to his notion of a secret right to the end, and doesn't ever actually say that the risen Christ was seen. So we need to acknowledge that resurrection also means a mystery. We simply don’t know how he did it.
In conclusion, Mark’s account brings us back to the question of what the resurrection means and how the disciples became convinced about it. It leaves space for doubts and fears but is unequivocal in the description of the empty tomb, and of the coming mission of the disciples to go into Galilee, and thence into the entire world. From there we return to Isaiah’s picture of a salvation given by God for the whole world to benefit from. Yet there is no passivity in this; in language reminiscent of the New Testament, Isaiah portrays the nations of the earth acknowledging God, and putting their trust in him for salvation.
To fully take the meaning of resurrection on for ourselves, for our own faith, this is what we are called to do as well.
Let us pray.
Some material by Rev'd Dr Jonathan Knight taken from www.rootsontheweb.com and is copyright © Roots for Churches Ltd 2008.
