St Mark's account of the resurrection must speak for itself. So pay attention to the detail of the narrative.
See there on the first Easter Sunday three women: Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome. See the sadness of mourning in their dress and manner. Hear the sadness of grieving in their slow step. Smell the sadness of death in the spices and oil they bring. Spices and oil they were unable to bring on Friday as the Sabbath started just after Jesus' body was laid in the tomb and no work, not evening preparing the dead for burial, can be done then; besides the shops were closing and they could not get what they needed until Saturday evening - and then they were afraid of the soldiers and the crowds to come out then. Now it is early on Sunday morning, everyone is asleep apart from these three sad women, coming to perform one last act of love for Jesus.
Feel the grief of those women as they travel on that first Easter morning. They don't yet know the joy of the resurrection, for them death and the grave is the end. They are certain of the finality of death, and they go to wash Jesus' body and anoint it with pure nard and spices, their last act of love for him.
See these women approach the tomb and hear them saying to one another: "Who will roll the stone away?" Jerusalem was surrounded by tombs cut into the limestone rock. They were large circular caves which contained a shelf for the body of the deceased to be laid on for a year. After a year the bones were gathered up and placed into a box called an ossuary. The tomb was sealed by a large circular stone fitted into a grove at the base of the doorway. These three women would not have been able to easily move that stone - no doubt their grief had prevented them from thinking about this until they got to the cemetery.
See these women come to the tomb and stand, for a moment, amazed that the stone has been rolled away. See them run with horror into the tomb and, as their eyes adjust to the gloom fear that Jesus' body has been stolen - one last final act of indignity. Their faith in the finality of death has been crumbled.
See them stand and stare in fear and awe at the angel dressed in the white robe. See them as they try and take in his words: "Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, has bee raised". Sense their confusion and bewilderment. They are confronted with a message of life which is too difficult to take in, to amazing to fully understand.
See them look around the tomb on that first Easter Sunday. See them scurrying away from the tomb in terror and confusion. Hear the horror of incomprehension in their quickening step, see the terror of the unknown in them. And they say nothing because they are afraid. In the course of Jesus' ministry he told people whom he had healed not to tell others of their healing as he did not want to be seen as a magician or miracle worker; yet these people could not contain their joy at the good news of their healing. Now, the three women are commanded to go and tell others of the good news of Jesus' rising but they are unable to do this through their fear. They are living, like us, in the knowledge of the resurrection but have not encountered the Risen Lord. This is a surprise which is too much for them.
But Mark's account of the resurrection is a collection of surprises - just as God is a God of surprises. The women came to the tomb expecting it to be securely closed against them, instead they find it right open. What a surprise! I wonder what people expect today when they come to explore the story of the tomb - are they expecting to find it all buttoned up, done and dusted, or are they expecting to find it left open for discussion and interpretation? How willing are we to come face to face with the surprise of the Risen Jesus?
The women came to the tomb expecting to find a dead body, instead they found a messenger of life - what a surprise! I wonder what we are looking for today when we study the resurrection stories. Are we looking for an old body resuscitated? Or are we looking for a new experience of the Risen Life? How willing are we to come face to face with the surprise of the Risen Jesus?
The women listened to the angel, the messenger of life, expecting to learn where their Lord was to be found. Instead the angel pointed to the spot where Jesus' body had been laid. What a surprise! I wonder what we are questing today when we go seeking the Risen Jesus? Are we questing irrefutable evidence of the Risen Jesus? Or are we content with the rumours of the lives the Risen Jesus has touched? How willing are we to come face to face with the Risen Jesus?
We come to the resurrection story expecting the women to be filled with joy and rushing to tell the others, but St. Mark says they were full of fear - what a surprise! What do we make of the Good News of the Resurrection? Are we trembling in silence, ore are we proclaiming in confidence and joy? How willing are we to come face to face with the Risen Jesus?
St Mark's Gospel ends in the most strange way with today's reading. Some versions of the Bible have got longer endings, but none of these are in the earliest manuscripts and Biblical scholars think these were added to try and make a "better" ending. The ending of the Gospel actually is:
"So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid."
So how do we explain such an ending?
Some people think that St. Mark had intended to write more, but was prevented from doing so. St. Mark, we know, wrote his gospel in a time of persecution and he wanted to get his story down so that others may know, and before it was too late. But, according to this theory, the soldiers arrested him before he could finish his gospel. The problem with this is that the supposed "interrupted ending" ends so well - not half way through a sentence.
Some people think that the Church was rather careless and lost the ending that St. Mark originally wrote for this Gospel. Maybe the last page of the manuscript laid on a copyists desk and he spilt wine on it - in much the same way that I seem to pour coffee on my computer keyboard! But I find it difficult to believe that St Mark or some of his closest friends would not have realised this and re-wrote the ending out.
I think that St Mark intended to end the Gospel here, as he was clearly a skilled writer. Mark was a master writer of his Gospel and he knew precisely what he was about. The good news of Jesus, which the gospel is all about, is not based on the narrative of the empty tomb, but on the presence of the living Jesus in the Christian community. Mark's ending is abrupt - because the ending of the gospel is not on the page but in our lives, we too must follow Jesus to Galilee, to go where we are sent, to follow Jesus. We only really see Jesus as the Son of God on the cross, and we must follow that Son wherever he calls.
This is the good news - we have to follow Jesus and tell others of his rising from the dead.
* The fact that Jesus is risen means we can be forgiven - just as Peter was forgiven for denying Jesus and just as the women we have met today would have been forgiven for the fear which meant they disobeyed he command to tell others.
* The fact that Jesus is risen means he has won the final battle between good and evil. Satan has been defeated. He had hoped to snatch Jesus for his own, but he got rather more than he bargained for and Jesus' death on the cross was not a defeat, but a victory over sin and death. The battle is over, just as the battle for Iraq is now over. All that is left in Iraq and in the cosmic battle between good and evil is the mopping up - but the battle is won, the die is cast.
* By raising Jesus to new life, God has declared that the end of our life is no longer death - for after death is new life. The tomb is no longer a place to be feared, but a bed. We live on.
* The fact that Jesus is risen affects us now. We can talk to Jesus, confident that we are forgiven our sins and that he is victorious over sin and death. We have a new quality of life now as well. We are worth something, for Jesus died for us.
This Easter as we rejoice in the news that God raised Jesus from the dead, let us tell others of this fact. Tell others that they can be forgiven, that death is not the end, and that our lives are forever difference because of the battle that Jesus has won. Amen.
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.