Postlude

WINDOWS OF THE WORD

I Am the Resurrection and the Life – John 11:17-27

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

EASTER SUNDAY, MARCH 31

And they (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome) went out and fled from the empty tomb for trembling and astonishment had come over them; they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. (Mark 16:8)

This is the original ending to the Gospel of Mark. There are no sightings of the risen Jesus. There are no happy reunions between the women and the Risen One. The Gospel ends on a note of fear and trembling.

There has always been speculation about why the Gospel ended so abruptly…but the one I like is that the people who first read this Gospel were surrounded by men and women who had seen the risen Jesus. There was no need to retell the resurrection story because it was a part of the life of the community. As time went by however, and those original witnesses became fewer and fewer, there was a need for a written record so that the story would not be lost.

You and I are the beneficiaries of these story tellers. We are made aware of the love of God not only in the death, but in the resurrection of Jesus. We are made aware that life does not end here but carries on forever. As we celebrate Easter Sunday the challenge for us is to keep the story alive; to tell the next generation that we do not need to live in fear and trembling, but that we can live in the joy and hope that comes from the Risen Jesus.

Living God, we give you thanks for the love you have shown to us in raising Jesus from the dead. Give us the confidence that this same resurrection awaits us all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

John Judson