Not Off the Hook Yet!
In the 17th chapter of the Book of Exodus is a verse that echoes down the centuries to our present day. The people of Israel, set free from long captivity in Egypt, are wandering in the desert, and they do what they have come to do best; they complain. In verse 7 we read, “He [Moses] called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” That question is still very much a part of the fabric of our lives, this question of whether or not God is among us, or with us, or for us. We want to know because so much depends on the answer to it. Never mind that the Apostle Paul already answered it so eloquently in Romans 8:31 “(NRSV) What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us”
Paul speaks in the context of Christ’s resurrection when he says “God who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Is God among us or not? For Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, the answer was “no more” as they embarked on their way to anoint Jesus’ body three days after he had been laid in the tomb. Mixed in with their deep grief, the three women might have experienced also a sense of relief: relief that it was over, and that in many ways their lives would return to “normal”.
No more traveling ahead of Jesus and his disciples to organize food and lodging for the night. No more exposing themselves to the taunts of people hostile to Jesus and the new faith he preached. No more enduring the criticism and condemnation they experienced at the hands of many religious leaders and their Roman friends.
No more. Done with this difficult business of following Jesus. Done with the tedious task of turning the world upside down due to the excitement Jesus’ teaching about God and his Kingdom stirred in people’s hearts and minds. Jesus was dead: crucified and buried on Friday. The journey was over.
Or is it? The two Mary’s and Salome arrived at the tomb, finding the heavy stone that had covered the entrance rolled away. And instead of Jesus, they find a messenger from God sitting there, waiting for them. And the message he has is far from proclaiming that the journey is over: “Don’t be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.” (Matthew 28:5-6)
These three faithful disciples of Jesus realize suddenly that their lives will not return to normal, but that their journey of following Jesus will last for the rest of their lives. God had a message for the women to bring to the disciples, hiding from anyone and in fear in the Upper Room: “Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” (Matthew 28:7)
Nobody is off the hook from following Jesus: not Mary Magdalene, nor Mary the mother of James, nor Salome, and most definitely neither you nor me. Is it any wonder the women rush out of the empty tomb “and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
Is God among us or not? For the Apostle Paul and through him for us, there is no shadow of doubt. For us, the people of the Reed City United Methodist Church, living in the days after Easter, the message is loud and clear: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39)
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
Pastor Daniel Hofmann