Matthew 28:1-10
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| Jan van Eyck and/or Hubert van Eyck, The Three Mary's at the Tomb 1425-1435 (PD) |
One beautiful spring day, much like this one, I sat in front of a panel of professors, pastors, and lay leaders from the Lutheran Church in Virginia.
It was the final step in the long process of becoming an ordained minister.
This final step, known officially as the “approval panel” is the most intimidating moment of the entire four year process.
You’re judged by this panel based on your theological, biblical, and liturgical proficiency following the completion of your seminary education.
All members of the committee are permitted to ask you any number of questions after reviewing an essay which is written by the candidate in response to specific questions from the Church.
Its a daunting hurdle in the process, but on this particular day, I felt confident, if not a bit cocky.
I had spent countless hours reading above and beyond the course syllabi, even studying with retired professors outside of my classes.
The committee was well aware of this and therefore crafted their questions to see how I would respond to a BASIC theological question.
They believed I would overshoot my response, providing a heady theological answer that would be confusing or maybe even uninspiring.
And they were RIGHT!
When asked quite simply why Jesus had to die, I began to explain the three prevailing theories of atonement theology.
“Well, the predominant model of atonement theology in the Christian Church is substitutionary atonement. Most often understood under the penal substitutionary model.
Then, you have the moral atonement model, which has been one of the more theologically sound models following the age of reason and the philosophical thought of that era.
And then, there is the Christus Victor model of atonement, which helps to draw a more biblically and historically sound view into our theological claims.
So, I would argue that the Christus Victor and Moral models of atonement offer a sound blend of historical, biblical, and theological claims that communicate the hope in the assurance of the risen Christ.”
As I straightened out my tie and crossed my legs arrogantly, during what seemed like a full minute of silence, I received a firm reply
“That’s great, Nate. So, why did Jesus have to die?!”
Knowing that I had fallen into the trap of giving a complete NERD answer, I followed up by giving the STUPIDEST answer imaginable!
“Are you all familiar with Chuck Norris jokes?” I asked
Then I proceeded to share a few,
“Chuck Norris can make fire by rubbing two ice cubes together.”
“Chuck Norris has a diary. It’s called the Guinness book of world records.”
“When Chuck Norris was born he drove his mother home from the hospital.”
The looks on the panel’s faces spoke for themselves, so I brought it all to a close when I asked;
“What if we took out the name, Chuck Norris, plugged in the name Jesus Christ and shared my favorite Chuck Norris joke to explain all this,”
“Jesus Christ was bitten by a snake once. After three days of pain and agony… the snake died”
This illustration probably didn’t do me any favors that day but I stand by it, as the hope that we cling to on this day of all days.
The serpent in the garden of Eden has come to signify the undoing of the world, sin, pain, and most importantly death.
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| Michelangelo, The Fall as depicted in the Sistine Chapel 1475-1564 (PD) |
And on Good Friday, Jesus THE Christ exposes himself to be stricken by death.
Exposing himself to the serpent and then in turn exposing and defeating that serpent
Sin and death, the power that draws us into a state of fear, a state of compliance.
Susceptible to those who are strong enough to prey on the weak.
Those who are cruel enough to use sin and death through oppression, terror, and intimidation.
A power that continues to be used and abused today;
This past week in Egypt, San Bernardino, and so many other places around the world.
And regardless of the story we hear today, we remain afraid, we are afraid, and that power of sin and death, continues to hold us in a way that the story of Jesus Christ has yet to fully overcome.
~
There could be a number of reasons for this, but in Matthew’s Gospel, perhaps it is because Matthew seems to be a lousy lawyer!
Matthew’s account goes out of its way to build a case that presents Jesus Christ as THE Messiah.
The author of Matthew’s Gospel builds a watertight case from the birth of Jesus all the way to Jesus’ crucifixion.
It is a magnificent defense of Jesus, defending him through the prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures.
Clearly defending Jesus’ title as the Messiah.
Matthew claims six times throughout the gospel that;
THIS EVENT occurred to fulfill the prophecy,
THIS WORD was said to fulfill the prophecy,
THIS ACTION was taken to fulfill the prophecy.
Of all the gospel accounts, Matthew seems to be the most intent on proving Jesus is the Christ but today when we get to his closing argument, its almost as if he has thrown in the towel.
In Mark, Luke, and John’s accounts, the resurrected Christ goes out and FINDS the disciples!
But not in Matthew.
Matthew leaves it up to the disciples to go and meet the resurrected Christ in Galilee.
It falls on them to seek out Christ, to have faith that Christ will be there waiting for them.
And this may not seem like a scary venture, but the disciples were likely in hiding from the Roman authorities, even covering their tracks in fear of the same fate as their teacher.
So, if you are going to send an invitation to anyone,
Or if you have a story to tell, evidence to substantiate a story or a claim
Like lets say BEING the Messiah,
There is a good rule to follow in first century Palestine;
Don’t ask a woman to do it!
Now, before you start thinking either Matthew or I have anything against women let me beg you to give Matthew and I the benefit of the doubt.
Because the role of women in first century Palestine was severely limited, especially among the Hebrew courts.
Women were rarely called to any Hebrew court to present evidence and if they did, it held no merit.
So, if Jesus Christ, resurrected and calling all people to a new life in him, were seeking the most promising messengers, it makes little sense to appear to the two Mary’s.
It doesn’t mean they weren’t smart, willing, capable, or even worthy of being witnesses to the Apostles much less the world.
It means that this was a day and age in which regardless of their desire or ability, the story of Jesus’ resurrection shouldn’t have made it much farther then their own lips.
And while that may not be the case in the other Gospel accounts,
There is an important message for us to hear today in Matthew’s telling.
That message begins with a question,
So why would the author of Matthew or Jesus, for that matter, have made so much effort to carefully build a case using prophetic scripture,
only to give up the ghost by dropping the story at the feet of two women who could never bear witness to this event outside of the this tiny circle of disciples?
After carefully building up this case from chapter one,
Beginning with a genealogy that would be the envy of an ancestry.com customer and then rounding it out with what would have been the most viable witness possible,
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| Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Converted Centurion under the Cross 1539 (PD) |
an officer in the Roman Legion, the centurion guarding the cross who proclaims “Truly, this was God’s Son!”
But nope, when seeking out a messenger to deliver this unbelievable resurrection story it is not the credibility of a Roman Officer, a Roman Soldier, a Pharisee, a Priest, a disciple, or just some random dude that is sought after in Matthew’s Gospel
Its two women, Mary and Mary, who would more than likely discredit the story completely by ever speaking a word of it.
Why them?! Why in this way?!
The answer is about as straight forward and reasonable as anyone can imagine.
It isn’t meant to be a likely story, nor is it meant to be a story that points or proves to the most obvious or convenient of truths.
It is a story for ALL people and it is a story meant to point to THE Truth which we find in the resurrection and hope of THE Christ.
~
For the past few years I’ve been following a TV show called Black Sails and they just finished the final season.
The series follows the history, the myth, and the literature that surrounds the unique story of the Golden age of Piracy.
Blending Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Treasure Island, with the stories surrounding real life Pirates like Edward Teach, Anne Bonny, Jack Rackham, and Charles Vane.
In college, I had studied this period of history closely and throughout the series I marveled at how they blended all these stories together.
One thing troubled me until the final episode though.
I kept wondering when and if they would introduce the famous pirate, Mary Reed.
But in the final scene of the final episode, this Mary, Mary Reed is seated at a table across from “Calico” Jack Rackham, asking for details of his adventures as a pirate.
And as the details become a bit muddled between what Mary had heard and what Jack is telling her, he ties the whole story together when he proclaims;
“A story is true, a story is untrue. As time extends it matters less and less. The stories we want to believe, those are the ones that survive. Despite upheaval and transitions and progress. Those are the stories that shape history, and then what does it matter if it was true or when it was born?! Because now, it has found truth!”
~
Matthew’s account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not meant to be an open and shut case.
Neither is Mark, Luke, or John’s!
It is the story of Jesus the Christ!
A story that has survived all efforts to silence those who seek him out in Galilee!
That is why Jesus appears before two witnesses whose testimony is barred from the courts and the communities where they live.
Because the story of Christ is the story that finds Truth in US.
That is why Christ is the object of our faith.
But the reward in our belief is also more abundantly clear in Matthew’s Gospel than in any other Gospel.
“Do not be afraid!”
Jesus’ crucifixion sends a clear message to the Jewish community, the disciples, the entire Roman Empire, and us today as well;
“Be afraid, be very afraid.”
The irony and truth of this story is as true today as it was in Jesus’ day.
Those who wield the greatest power are those who control the power of death.
It is why my parents grew up cowering beneath desks as they awaited “the Big One” and today why my own children are now trained to cower beneath their desks to prepare for another kind of “Big One”
Are we really hearing the message that is heard at that tomb on that Easter morning?
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
This is not a call to be brave, because bravery requires one to face their fear.
It is a call to acknowledge that death is no more and our FEAR of death is therefore no more.
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Noël Coypel,
Resurrection of Christ 1700 (PD)
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Jesus’ resurrection tells Rome that an authority and power rooted in the threat of death has been undermined by a peasant itinerant preacher.
It is a call to cast off the shackles of fear in the face of those who wield the power of death, because death is now a sheath absent a sword,
It is a gun is devoid of ammunition
It is a boogeyman that has vacated the closet.
However, discipleship is still scary,
But we aren’t called to be brave disciples, we are called to be fearless followers of Christ
And on that Easter morn, it is the venomous strike of death that has turned against a serpent who has bitten the wrong prey.
So, we are told to no longer be afraid, because in the resurrection the reason to fear death has been removed.
And yet, both Mary’s leave the tomb in fear and I doubt they lived the rest of their lives, free of fear.
~
A few weeks ago I climbed up to my roof to clean my gutters,
Afterwords, one of my children asked why the bible always says not to be afraid.
After talking about the difference between being brave and not being afraid
My child asked me the most obvious question.
“Then why are you afraid of heights Daddy?”
The answer was too simple to avoid;
Because I am still finding my faith beside that empty tomb and on my own journey to meet Christ at Galilee.
And my fear falls away bit by bit when I consider the real Truth of this story
And that Truth is simple, He IS risen, Alleluia.
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| Andrea Mantegna, The Resurrection 1457-1459 (PD) |
- Sources
- Robert Levine and Johnathan E. Steinberg (Producers), Johnathan E. Steinberg (Director).
- (2 April 2017). Black Sails [Television series]. Meridian, CO: Starz.
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