Morning Devotion for Monday in Easter Week
April 18, 2022
The Invitatory
Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed: Come Let us adore him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading: Mark 16:1-8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘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 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.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
The ending of Mark’s gospel is notoriously odd, yet curiously distinct. Throughout the gospel Jesus has begged people to keep quiet about his activities, but the more he urges them, the more they insist on announcing what he is up to. His circumspection has to do with avoiding a celebrity limited to mighty deeds. It also serves as a reminder of how difficult it has been to understand Jesus’ way and message correctly. In the empty tomb, we finally hear a word sent by him that the followers are authorized to speak, but this time they keep quiet. Add to all this the feeling that the story ends mid-sentence and we have plenty to process with those who were asked to accompany them on this holy day.
Having celebrated the angel’s announcement for over two millennia, we struggle to appreciate the disorientation and panic of this moment. Even if we had heard Jesus’ own prophecies about his suffering and resurrection, would our stepping into his empty tomb, and hearing this announcement from a mysterious figure, automatically bring everything into clear perspective? Even if we, like many first-century Jews, had anticipated a general resurrection of the dead at the climax of human history, would we not also be confused, even panicked, at the site of Jesus’ bodily absence? Perhaps it is understandable that the women say nothing to anyone. More to the point, what is surprising is that this silence concludes the Gospel of Mark.
The community for which Mark wrote was terror-stricken and tempted to flee. Perhaps some had, but the call of the messenger at the tomb was to go back to the time of loyalties, a time of discipleship characteristic of the Galilee of Jesus’ ministry. The silence of the community’s witness is inappropriate, even in a time of peril, for he has been raised. The women witnesses had been followers and companions of Jesus in ministry, passion and at the tomb. The members of Mark’s community are also called to be followers and witnesses, even in time of trial and distress.
Mark’s gospel was in one view specifically designed to elicit the response: “But surely there were resurrection appearances?” There were indeed resurrection appearances, but first the community must share with the trembling women all the feelings of fear, know those fears to be in the final analysis groundless, and only then can they hear the voice the women heard —just as he told you.
The ending of Mark leaves us in a paradox. It invites us to break the silence with proclamation, and to redirect our flight instinct to a steadying faith. But it also makes clear that, without the sustaining and empowering presence of Jesus himself, we will never make it back to Galilee to meet him. After all, this has never been our story to finish. This has always been God’s story. It is Jesus’ story. Mark may have composed a Gospel with a surprisingly open ending, but Jesus is the steadfast one who pulls us into that opening. In reckoning with Jesus’ resurrection we are dealing with something that is beyond verification by empirical means.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
