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April 4,  2010 The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ commonly called Easter Day Year C Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 65:17-25 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43 John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12 Click here for sermons from previous weeks The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired) Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia! What would you do if you had seen a person die, helped to bury that person, and a few days later been told that the person was now alive again? I don't suppose you have ever stopped to ask yourself that question. Most of us have no occasion to think about such an unusual and impossible sequence of events. Neither did the eleven remaining disciples. Neither did the other followers of Jesus, including the women who often accompanied them and helped to support the ministry. But, that first Easter Day, it was a question that many of them were forced to reflect upon. Mary of Magdala had met Jesus walking in the garden, early in the morning, and talked with him, face to face. Several others, all named Mary, had gone to the tomb early, with the intention of washing Jesus' body, wrapping him in a fresh shroud with spices to help preserve the body, and doing a bit of private mourning in the process. They encountered an angel who informed them that Jesus was risen and was no longer in the tomb. Peter and John, having heard the women's story, went to see for themselves. They, too, found an empty tomb...and returned to the place where the other disciples were waiting. And then none of them seem to have done much of anything, the rest of the day. Perhaps they thought that if they talked about it, people would think they were insane, or even spreading political propaganda to bring about some sort of riot or uprising. Almost surely they were terrified. They had seen Jesus arrested, tortured, and executed. They probably expected the same things to happen to them, and so their first idea would be to lay low and avoid attracting attention to themselves by telling an implausible story. Probably, too, most of them didn't really believe that Jesus had returned to life. Even those who had seen the empty tomb probably assumed that Pilate, or the Temple rulers, had taken the body away and hidden it. Indeed, Mary Magdalene thought exactly that, at first. It wouldn't do to call attention to themselves by starting a fuss about it. And why start talking about something that they weren't really sure about? Could their eyes had been tricking them? I am sure at least some of them wondered. And so, that evening, when Jesus actually appeared to most of them, in two separate events, they still were not quite believing. They wanted so much to believe, of course, that Jesus was alive again. But they, like us, are victims of common sense, and are afraid to look foolish by proclaiming their belief that the impossible had actually happened. One group did not even recognize him at first. The other group recognized him but thought he was a ghost, until they saw him eat something to prove that he was real. Even forty days later, after they had seen the risen Jesus several times, eaten with him, listened to him talk, and seen him rise into the clouds, we are told that some of them still did not believe. And so, we can understand why we, nowadays, have so much trouble persuading people that the Resurrection actually happened, and that, moreover, it is our guarantee of salvation and access to eternal life. This also probably is the main reason why so few of us are willing to carry out our Baptismal vow to proclaim the Good News about Jesus to all whom we encounter. And yet...what we have promised to do is nothing more or less than what anyone who is convinced of the truth of the Good News would naturally do: excitedly and triumphantly tell everybody we know about this marvelous thing that has happened. So...what about YOU? Do you truly believe that Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, and has appeared to people who know him so well that they cannot be mistaken? Are you so happy about it that you cannot resist the opportunity to share this exciting, wonderful news with everyone you meet? Do you believe so deeply that you feel impelled to proclaim, loud and clear, over and over again, Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! I hope and pray that this is your reaction to this breathtaking, wondrous event. Come, let us proclaim the Good News together: Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen. Back To Top Home