Will we ever know quite what happened that morning in the garden when Jesus rose? No, we won’t. The language – borrowing from familiar biblical tropes: an earthquake, angel, blinding light – struggles to express the sheer wonder of it all, the awesomeness of their experience that has come upon them like a bolt from the blue. Each of the Gospel writers strives to express the inexpressible; the incredible, mind-blowing truth that Christ had died but now was risen. The tomb was empty. The grave-clothes lay discarded. What had seemed like defeat was revealed as a glorious victory. Hatred, sin, violence, death – they were all as real as ever, experienced in all their fury by God through his Son. But, as the following session from A Most Amazing Man A explores, they would not, and could not, have the final word!
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Read
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. Matthew 28:1–3
The meditation of the other Mary
It was a bolt from the blue . . .
literally . . .
shattering the peace of the garden
and breaking in rudely on our grief.
We’d walked there in silence,
each wrapped up in our thoughts,
remembering all the special things Jesus had said and done,
precious moments neither of us would ever forget
but that had been so cruelly snatched from us
as they nailed him on a cross.
Both of us were fighting back the tears,
struggling to be strong for the sake of the other,
but as we approached the tomb we could feel ourselves crumbling,
great sobs welling up within,
and we’d have caved in completely
had it not been for that astonishing turn of events.
Suddenly,
without any warning,
any clue as to what was about to happen,
the ground seemed to shake and lightning fill the sky,
as though heaven itself was breaking in upon us,
and so, of course, it was to prove,
in a way more wonderful than we could have dared imagine.
In that awesome, earth-shattering moment, God was at work,
transforming the world for ever;
not only us but everyone,
not only life but death.
For Jesus had risen,
victorious over evil,
triumphant over the grave.
The tomb was empty,
and he was alive once more,
waiting to meet and greet us,
to speak his word again and walk with us on the way.
And this time, whatever might be,
there would be no separating us from his love,
no tearing us apart –
for we knew that, through his Spirit,
he would be with us always, to the very end of time.
Prayer
Almighty God,
we remember with awe the first Easter morning,
marvelling that, at a time when you seemed absent,
you were supremely at work,
and at a place where death seemed triumphant,
new life was coming to birth.
Remind us, should we ever forget,
that you are a God of surprises,
a God who turns the expectations of this world upside down,
bringing hope out of despair,
laughter out of tears,
light out of darkness
and life out of death.
In that knowledge, may we never despair of any situation,
no matter how bleak or hopeless things may seem.
Help us always to keep faith in your transforming power –
able to make us and all things new.
Amen.