Thoughts for the Day

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. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

(Lectionary New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I like reading cosy mysteries, you know the kind of thing, set in an old country house with the detective who gathers all the suspects together at the end to explain the culprit, and if suspects tell identical stories they are sure to be lying! My brother and I are the last of our immediate family, and our memories of our childhood (60+ years later) are sometimes very different, though I notice we can piece things together and make a much better whole story about what actually happened.

So we shouldn't worry too much that Matthew's account of the Resurrection is different to John's. Matthew would appear to be writing some 30 years after the death of Jesus and John likely up to 60 years later. They would be dependent on their own material (eg Matthew is the only one to mention the wise men), as well as common material circulating amongst followers, and also other Gospels (eg Matthew and Luke seem to have had access to Mark's Gospel). If their accounts were identical we should indeed be worried.

So let us look at the angel's words to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (wife presumably, of Clopas, mentioned by John). The two women are shown the empty tomb by the anel and encouraged to believe that Jesus has risen from the dead. They are encouraged by the angel and by the risen Jesus himself to tell the disciples the good news. Finally both the angel and the risen Jesus tell them to return to Galilee and so the news of the Resurrection will begin its spread around the Near East, and eventually the world.

This mission is ours today no less than it was theirs!

Lord God,
give us a strong faith
to piece together the events
of Your death and resurrection,
and to be consoled that Christians
throughout the world
have found comfort in Your work
to redeem Your children.
When times are hard may we dig deep
into what we have learnt
knowing that we can rest
in Your eternal love.
Amen.