Easter Message
The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III
At Bible Study the other night, we read the account of the resurrection in all four Gospels. We compared and contrasted them to see what was unique to each and what details they shared. We noted the central role that the women who followed Jesus played in this pivotal event. Lee Strobel, in his bestseller The Case for Christ, noted that if this was a story was fictitious, the writer would never have included women. This wasn’t due to authorial misogyny, but because women had no standing in Jerusalem in 30 AD. They couldn’t testify in court, for example, so, if the story was scripted, the writers would have used men as the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection to give it more credibility.
We also noted how fear was a common theme. Matthew notes that the guards were afraid when the angel appeared and rolled the stone from the tomb. He also tells the women not to be afraid. In Mark, the angel also tells the women not to be alarmed and earlier versions of his Gospel end with him saying, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid” (16:8). Luke says that “In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground” when they saw two angels (23:5). Finally, we have John tells us that it was the eleven remaining disciples who were afraid as they were hiding for fear of the Jewish leaders.
That’s a lot of dread for such a joyous, earth-shattering event.
But I think any rational person would be terrified if they were among the first witnesses of this event. People don’t rise from the dead, although John includes the lengthy story of Christ raising his friend Lazarus from the tomb just prior to us reading about the plot by the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus. The person that the disciples and the women followed for three years had just suffered one of the most torturous deaths imaginable. The disciples’ own lives were at risk. No wonder they were petrified!
Removed from this story by two millennia, and having the testimony of saints, martyrs, and hordes of theologians in our spiritual satchels, we no longer see this story
as anything to fear. It is the central moment of our faith. Christ rising from the tomb is God’s ultimate pronouncement on sin and death. It no longer has the last word. It is not the final chapter of our stories, either.
Jesus Christ rising from the dead opens to us the gates of everlasting life. We will celebrate this miracle of miracles this coming Sunday at 10:00 am. Join us as we shout Hallelujah!
The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III
Pastor and Professor
Congregational Church of Canton
Salem State University, Philosophy Department