Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, April 19, 2014 Read John 20:1-10 Today is Holy Saturday – the day the church celebrates the Easter Vigil. In all four gospels this day is the Sabbath. It would have begun on the evening we have come to know as Good Friday and continued until the next evening. Then, at sundown, the first day of the week would begin. So the church has gathered at sundown to celebrate the resurrection. We follow in that tradition. As we have noticed throughout our study of John’s gospel, there are many similarities between all four gospel writers. And there are some significant differences. The same is true when it comes to the story of the resurrection. Let me begin by sharing a part of my own personal journey. I was nurtured in a community that valued the Bible. One of the things I remember my confirmation pastor telling us was that we should believe in God, not because of what he said, but because of what the Bible says and that the Bible is 100% true. The Bible is infallible. The Bible is inerrant. I came to the Bible believing that. Then, I encountered the resurrection stories. And it was a near faith shattering experience for me. If there is any story about which the various books of the Bible agree 100% it ought to be the story of the resurrection. If the various writers can’t get that straight, how can a person believe the rest? Of course, what I discovered was that the four gospel writers do not agree. Some speak of one angel, others of two. Some speak of only one person coming to the tomb and others of a group of women. The angels speak one thing in some and something else in others. What is going on here? What happened to infallibility and inerrancy? Was it all a hoax – something like Santa Claus who I had given up long ago? This was a real challenge for me – as I said a near faith shattering event. I was in college at the time and there were plenty of voices that questioned almost everything and there were moments when I wanted to simply walk away from it all. What I have come to realize much later is that God had a hold on me. God would not let me go. So I struggled with the Bible. How was I to understand it? How was I to reconcile the beliefs that I brought with me to the Bible with what I found there? I was and am convinced that we need to be fiercely honest about the Bible. We can’t just force the Bible to say what we want it to say or to be what we want it to be. My journey eventually led me to attend Luther Seminary. I went there unsure if I was really called to be a pastor and I went there with all of my questions about the Bible. I also went there somewhat skeptical of seminary professors. There was all kinds of skepticism about church leaders as there always is. What I found were people who struggled like me and people who found some answers in taking the Bible just as it is and wrestling with it. I still value the Bible intensely. The Bible is the only source and norm that we have to deal with our struggles. I think we need to take the Bible very seriously and to let the Bible speak for itself. I believe God speaks through the Bible, not in some magical way and not without struggle, but in a real way. I believe God encounters us through the Bible. And I also believe that on one level the Bible is just like any other human endeavor. Real people wrote what they wrote and they are responsible for it. They wrote because they were encountered by God too and they wanted to bear witness to their faith. They wanted to be as creative and successful in their witness as they could be. And today that’s what I find simply fascinating about the Bible. Each author has a story to tell and each author’s story is shaped by their own experience and their own struggles and even their own preconceived notions and beliefs. So we journey together to find truth. I will not let go of the Bible. I know that my understandings are not all correct. I know that I may change my mind about some things as I move forward. But in the meantime I share what I can and I treasure the story. Today, I am not in the least troubled by the many discrepancies I find in the Bible and particularly in the resurrection stories. I believe that underneath each of the stories we hear is a deep truth of God who loves humanity, who raised Jesus from the dead, and who reaches out to all of us calling us to faith. As we begin to analyze the resurrection story we discover that all four gospel writers agree that it was on the first day of the week that followers of Jesus came to the tomb. Mark tells us that it was very early on the first day of the week when the sun had risen (Mark 16:2). Matthew tells us it was as the first day of the week was dawning (Matthew 28:1). Luke tells us it was on the first day of the week at early dawn (Luke 24:10). And, John tells us that it was still dark on the first day of the week (John 20:1). All of these are essentially the same. When it comes to who goes to the tomb the variance becomes much greater. Mark tells us that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome come to the tomb together (Mark 16:1). These are essentially the same three women who stood at a distance and watched the crucifixion and also saw where Jesus was buried (Mark 15:40, 47). Matthew tells us it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who come to the tomb (Matthew 28:1). Earlier Matthew had told us that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee had watched at a distance and that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had sat opposite the tomb at the time of Jesus’ burial (Matthew 27:56, 61). Luke simply tells us that the women who followed Jesus from Galilee both witnessed the burial and later returned (Luke 23:55, 24:1). Later Luke identifies those who were at the tomb as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and more unspecified women (Luke 24:10). In John the only person who comes to the tomb while it was still dark was Mary Magdalene. The only person named in all four gospel stories is Mary Magdalene. Who the others might have been and even if there were more than Mary Magdalene cannot be determined from reading all four gospels – they simply do not agree. After Mary Magdalene has found the tomb to be empty John tells us that she goes to find the male disciples of Jesus and that Peter and the beloved disciple eventually come and witness the empty tomb. Luke reports a similar response to the women by telling his readers that Peter ran to the tomb and saw that the tomb was empty (Luke 24:12). All four gospels agree that a large stone had been placed at the entrance of the tomb. This would have presented a problem for those who came to visit the tomb and anoint the body of Jesus. All four gospel writers solve the problem in a unique and different way. Mark tells us that the women were concerned about who might roll the stone away but their dilemma is solved when they simply find it has already been rolled away (Mark 16:3). Matthew implies that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are already at the tomb with the stone covering the entrance when an earthquake occurs and an angel comes from heaven and rolls the stone away (Matthew 28:2). Luke agrees with Mark by simply reporting that the stone had already been rolled away when the women arrive (Luke 24:2). And John also agrees with Mark and Luke that Mary Magdalene finds the stone already rolled back when she arrives. So Matthew presents that most variance. Matthew has already introduced the presence or an angel or angels at the tomb and eventually all four gospel writers will speak of an angel or angels. Mark tells of a “young man” dressed in white siting on the right side inside the tomb (Mark 16:5). We can assume that this “young man” was an angel although Mark may be harkening back to the “young man” at Gethsemane who fled away naked during the arrest of Jesus. Now he is fully clothed. Matthew, like Mark, speaks of one angel who has descended from heaven and rolled back the stone and now sits upon it, apparently outside the tomb (Matthew 28:2). Luke speaks of “two men in dazzling clothes who stood beside the women apparently outside the tomb (Luke 24:4). John does not mention the presence of angels until much later in the scene. Mary Magdalene comes to find the tomb empty and, thinking that someone has stolen the body, reports this to the male disciples. Peter and the beloved disciple come to the tomb and also find it empty and even though they go inside the tomb the do not see any angels. After they have left, Mary Magdalene looks into the tomb once again and then she sees two angels sitting inside the tomb where the body of Jesus had lain. Exactly how many angels there were and where they were located differs in these accounts. They simply do not agree. What the angels say to Mary Magdalene and the other women also differs. In Mark the “young man” tells the women not to be alarmed. They are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified but he has been raised and is not there. The women are invited to see where Jesus had laid and then are told to go and tell the disciples, and Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee, just as he said he would, and that they will see him there (Mark 16:6-7). Matthew inserts a further description of the angel whose appearance was like lightening and whose clothes were white as snow (a remembrance of the Transfiguration of Jesus) and reports that the guard became like dead men. He then tells us that the angel told the women essentially the same message that Mark had reported, however, Matthew omits any reference to Peter (Matthew 28:3-7). Luke tells us the “two men” ask the women why they are looking for the living among the dead. They tell them that Jesus is not here but has risen and then reminds them of what Jesus had told them while they were in Galilee reprising the passion predictions – the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise. There is no mention of Jesus appearing in Galilee in Luke’s gospel because Jesus will appear in Jerusalem shortly (Luke 24:5-7). John’s report differs the most. As we have noted the presence and speech of the angels comes later in the scene after Peter and the beloved disciple have been at the tomb and left. Only then does Mary Magdalene see the angels. They ask her why she is weeping and receive her reply that someone had taken the body of Jesus away but the angel’s say no more because at this point Jesus appears to Mary. The angels vanish from the story. The most we can say is that there was an angel or angels who appeared but how many and what they said cannot be determined. The gospel writers simply do not agree. The response of the women to the angels also differs. In Mark, the women are filled with fear and flee from the tomb not saying a word to anyone (Mark 16:8). Matthew tells us that the women run from the tomb in great fear and joy only to run into Jesus who repeats the command to go and tell the male disciples to go to Galilee where they will see Jesus (Matthew 28:8-10). Luke tells us that the women went and told the apostles but they did not believe them thinking the report was an idle tale – though Peter does go to check things out and returns knowing the tomb is indeed empty but he is still filled with amazement and amazement in Luke’s gospel is not a proper response (Luke 24:10-12). Mary Magdalene’s response in John’s gospel is of the highest quality. Once she recognizes that Jesus is present she becomes the first evangelist and goes and tells the disciples that she has seen the Lord! For John, seeing Jesus and believing in him is the whole point of the story. Mary comes to full and adequate belief. Once again the writers simply do not agree regarding the response of the women. The response runs all the way from saying nothing out of fear (Mark) to confessing Jesus as LORD (John). Now that we have heard the varying reports of the four gospel writers we need to focus our attention on John. In some ways John report is the most different. First of all Mary Magdalene is the only woman in John’s gospel and she plays quite a role in the story. She moves from observing the empty tomb and wondering where those who stole the body of Jesus had put him to seeing a pair of angels inside the empty tomb but not being very impressed with them since she repeats her plea to them wondering if perhaps they have taken the body and put it somewhere to bumping into Jesus without realizing that it is Jesus, mistaking him for the gardener, and asking him the same question of whether he might have taken the body and put it somewhere else to the realization that the one who calls her name is Jesus. Mary Magdalene is the main character in the resurrection story – along with Jesus. We will look at Mary’s response a bit more tomorrow. We need to return to John’s report of the reaction of Peter and the beloved disciple to the report of Mary Magdalene that the tomb is empty. John tells us that Peter and the “other disciple” both run to the tomb but the other disciple outruns Peter. At the tomb he waits in deference to Peter, however, who enters the tomb and finds it empty. Inside the tomb Peter discovers a peculiar thing – the wrappings that had been placed around Jesus’ body are laying there but Jesus is gone. Peter comes to no conclusion about all of this. The other disciple, however, sees what Peter saw and believed. How firm and real this belief is, is yet to be determined. John says of both Peter and the beloved disciple that they as yet did not understand the scripture that Jesus must be raised from the dead. They will need the appearance of Jesus for that. So far John has conveyed to his readers the reality of the empty tomb. But that is all that is known for sure. Mary Magdalene persists in her conclusion that someone must have stolen the body of Jesus. She does not profess that Jesus has been raised – it does not enter her mind. And we may well conclude that this thought had not entered Peter’s mind either and perhaps not even the beloved disciple’s mind although John makes that a bit ambiguous by telling his readers that the other disciple believed. The point seems to be that an empty tomb is not enough. More will be needed. And more is provided.