Easter
Scripture: Mark 16
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed, Do Not Be Afraid; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.
Reflection: Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s Easter Message
“And then Easter happened. Jesus rose from the dead. The incredible, the unexpected happened. Life triumphed over death, light over darkness, love over hatred, good over evil. That is what Easter means-hope prevails over despair. Jesus reigns as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Oppression and injustice and suffering can’t be the end of the human story. Freedom and justice, peace and reconciliation, are God’s will for all of us, black and white, in this land and through out the world. Easter says to us that despite everything to the contrary, God’s will for us will prevail, love will prevail over hate, justice over injustice and oppression, peace over exploitation and bitterness. The Lord is risen. Alleluia.”
Journal: When have you experienced new life? What do we learn from the start of spring about new life? What new life are you seeking? What seeds do you long to plant to grow?
Action: Worship @ 6:30, 9:00 & 11:00am
Easter is loud. People show up dressed head to toe, bonnets and patent leather shoes, the full Easter fit. Churches pull out their best: the best music, the best singers, and hopefully the best sermon. Everything gets turned up. Even the pipe organ somehow gets louder, testing the structural integrity of the sanctuary with every stop pulled out. Then we add a trumpet. Maybe three.
Churches are full, even when they aren't usually. And we sing grand, triumphant songs, many from the 18th and 19th centuries, all about victory and glory. Songs written while European Christians were, quite literally, triumphing across the globe, planting flags, taking land, and stealing people. Swap the organ for guitars and a praise band and the sound changes, but the message doesn’t: triumph, victory, and a very personal reign of Jesus in your heart.
But the theology of Easter, at least the earliest stories does not really sound like this. It is quiet and weary, slightly awkward, surprising, and strange. It is one woman saying, “I have seen the Lord.” One woman, no amplification or platform. Just one woman, telling her friends, “I have seen the Lord.”
In every Gospel, Mary Magdalene is named. She and a few others have just watched the Roman Empire execute a man they love. Crucifixion has one purpose: to keep people small, quiet, and afraid so they don’t dare speak up and challenge power. That’s why it’s public. That’s how Rome kept the “peace.”
It is into this grief that Mary Magdalene and the other women (also named Mary)—go to the tomb. It is quiet. Heavy. Uncertain. There is no triumph here.
Unless you count a massive stone rolled away, a couple of dazzling figures in white, and some impressively folded burial linens—which, granted, is a small triumph if you’ve ever tried to fold a fitted sheet, but it’s not exactly victory as the world defines it.
Jesus doesn’t swing by the palace, arms up “Pretty Woman” style: “Big mistake. Huge.” Caesar doesn’t weep. Pilate doesn’t grovel. The chief priests don’t issue a sheepish apology: “Oh JEEZ were right, tell us what to do?”
In all of the stories that women go to the tomb to do this deep, loving work of care, anointing. Anointing is a sacred practice in the ancient world. It is part of a practice of people who follow Jesus. Christ is not a last name, it means anointed one. It’s so important some early Christian communities named themselves in this way(After Jesus Before Christianity by Verncome, eta p 26). Anointing was a ritual at death, but it was part of life. It was an act of care, an act of healing, a celebration of marriage, it echoed prophets long past anointing Kings like David, just like Mary anoints Jesus.
Here we are in the hazy grief after the crucifixion. Mary and a cohort of women, go to anoint Jesus one more time. Except in the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene goes alone. The work has already been done by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the disciple who came to Jesus at night.
I love this Gospel most of all because I imagine Mary going purely because she wants to, because she needs to. She goes with her whole heart.
When she arrives, she knows immediately that something is wrong. Jesus is gone. You can almost feel the drop in her stomach as she runs for reinforcements, Peter and the Beloved Disciple (Scholars imagine this is John). They race back to the tomb. Running, which is rare enough in the Bible to be worth noting, and the Gospel of John makes sure we know that Peter comes in second to the beloved disciple.
But true to form while the others are waiting at the threshold of the tomb, Peter seems to barge right in, no pause for tenderness or recognition to the sensitivity the moment may require. The two guys look around, take it in, and then… nothing. A kind of shrug in the face of catastrophic news. They look at Mary, say, ‘Yep’ and then leave.
But Mary stays. She stays and tries to figure it out. She is the one always fixing things, always managing the logistics so now she has a mental list of who she can ask for help. Easter starts with a determined woman asking a gardener for help. Then she hears her name, in a tongue she knows. In the sleepy grief and deep sadness, she senses him present and goes back to the disciples. I have seen the Lord.
I have seen the Lord. She does not say you guys should come check on this because I kind of think I might’ve seen something you’re really going to want to check out. She doesn’t tell them in the form of a question. She doesn’t dumb it down or put on a veil of false humility so as not to hurt their feelings that she has seen the Lord and they have not. And she certainly doesn’t worry what the Roman Empire or the religious establishment will have to say about her news. She goes back with clear authority of her experience and clear ownership of her voice, and she says, “I have seen the Lord.”
She is the first preacher on the first Easter, in the midst of despair she is the one to give voice to the possibility of new life in the face of crucifixion. A woman, not even a queen, who followed Jesus through the joy and the grief, she is the first preacher. Mary will be named the apostle to the apostles by the church but her Gospel, The Gospel of Mary, will be excluded from the Christian Cannon, banned and only survives because some folks hid it away for us to find generations later.
Mary is the first preacher of Jesus’ resurrection but in the fifth century, a Church Council in southern France chips away at their ordination (they began considering a NEW doctrine of original sin). And we know it didn’t really work because they had to do it again 100 years later. The first preacher of Easter is Mary Magdalene and Pope Gregory the Great will minimize her voice in the most classical way–he deems her a prostitute– a classic strategy to minimize a woman’s voice (He really gets into it, waxing on about the scent of her perfume when she is doing her work…proving he had some of his own issues to work out.)
She’s the one disciple that stayed through Everything! She did not falter, did not fail, did not get emotional, hysterical or faint. Did not deny, did not betray. Maybe Peter or the beloved disciple would have been the first to see Jesus, but they don’t even stick around. It’s Mary, she is the first preacher!
Two weeks ago, I prayed at the Unicameral. You can find my prayer on social media along with some comments from a few folks who may be less than thrilled. Like this one from Tim: “First of all no such thing as women pastors” Bad news Tim- We exist. He continues “and second you give that prayer and dont mention the name of Jesus once?” Yep just like the Lord’s Prayer (PS that is an act of care and inclusion in an interfaith setting.)
The comments were actually not that interesting compared to some from the past, none of them were worthy of stickers, memes or fundraisers but there is one from a local woman that really has me thinking. Marcia writes, “She is in direct disobedience of God's word. Sad that a lot of men have become so weak and willing to let women usurp their leadership positions.”
Her comments grieve me most of all because she is missing Mary. Her experience of Christianity leaves Mary unvoiced and perhaps she has quitted her own voice and she certainly has created rigid expectations of gender for everyone, men included. Most of all she is missing out on the very first preacher of Easter.
Mary is the first preacher. Read her gospel and read all of the others. She is the leader. That's why the Gospel of Luke says Mary, called Magdalene in Chapter 8. Magdalene means tower. Mary the Tower. When you have a religious transformation in the Bible, you get a new name. Simon becomes Peter, the Rock. Saul becomes Paul. Jacob becomes Israel after wrestling with God. Abramah and Sarah get their names even as they laugh at God’s promise of descendants. Mary works through her demons, she unpacks her baggage and reorganizes her life and she becomes Mary, the one they call Magdalene. Mary the tower, the one you look too. The one that holds steady.
Scholar Cynthia Bourgeault says, "the Passion without Mary has no love. Without Mary, the Passion narrative sounds like victimization, hate, cruelty, abandonment and misery. Christianity lost the transformative love in favor of hate and victimization. Because the unvoiced and silenced Mary Magdalene carries the transformative power of love. And when you silence her out of it you change the whole nature of Christianity.” (Mary Magdalene: Apostle to Our Own Times)
And she is right. Church art past and present loves the blood of Crucifixion so much we have labeled it good. Somehow we love to see the gruesome details, even if the early followers of Jesus didn’t model this for us. They don’t rehearse the details of crucifixing, they don’t paint it, mosaic it or act it out. They don’t celebrate the violence of Roman power and the inhumanity of the community. But we do.
This week I googled, where can I watch ‘The Passion of the Christ' this weekend? Amongst the results was a well placed ad for a streaming service to FOX Nation. And below the blood soaked trailer, Google populated a series of other questions I might find interesting:
Was Jesus muscular or skinny?
Does Kevin Costner believe in Jesus?
What is the Devil’s favorite sin?
Whose DNA did Jesus have?
Does Elon Musk believe in God– He does now.
What happens at 3AM in the Bible?
How to tell if someone has a demon?
What does it mean if God wakes you up at 4:44am?
What song did Baron Trump sing with Mel Gibson?
Is saying “oh jeez” a sin?
What sin will God NEVER forgive -Spoiler it’s blasphemy.
What are the three sins God will never forgive? (that’s right now there are three)
Does everyone go to heaven? NO.
And a variety of surprisingly technical questions about Mama Mary’s sexlife and hymen.
Almost all of these seem ridiculous to me, not only in their asking but in the one line or one paragraph answers that can be found on multiple websites. But the truth is this isn’t just silly or ridiculous; it’s dangerous. It is a reminder of how modern Christian expressions are obsessed with sin, control of bodies and people and behaviors. Obsessed with absolutes about who is in and who is out. And while on the surface it might seem harmless or goofy, it’s not.
In Trump’s second term, we have seen this narrative spread like wild fire on parched earth. One most horrifying moment, at least in my view, is Pete Hegseth inviting Doug Willson to preach, teach and speak. Doug Wilson has made notoriously sexist and racist remarks, he self-identifies as ‘palo confederate’ and has one of the most joyless church buildings in western christianity, and Pete Hegseth gave him a platform. The groups he leads about masculinity (Order of Man) are toxic. The stories of women Survivors, escaping his violent followers and leaving their marriages will turn your stomach. And Pete Hegseth gave him a platform to speak. (https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-the-church-that-preaches-wives-need-to-be-led-with-a-firm-hand/
Doug Wilson, isn’t really new and he isn’t really unique, he is just getting louder. And it is a theology of domination; in the household men over women, in the community white people over people of color and in the world the US over everyone, literally everyone.
And it is not Christian. It is not faithful. It doesn’t even get close to answering the question WWJD and it is absolutely not what Mary preached on that first Easter when she said, “I have seen the Lord.”
“The Passion without Mary has no love. Without Mary, the Passion narrative sounds like victimization, hate, cruelty, abandonment and misery.” Cynthia Bourgeault (Mary Magdalene: Apostle to Our Own Times) says,
Anointing
Every Gospel tells the story of a woman, with an alabaster jar of costly nard and in every Gospel she anoints Jesus at the table. She enters to the surprise of some and the scorn of others. In every Gospel, she opens the jar and pours out this extravagant gift, sometimes on his head and sometimes on his feet, so expressive and intimate: this is love practiced. This is love embodied.
And she upsets the men at the table. “what kind of woman is this” and what kind of prophet are you Jesus, to let a woman like this burst in here and touch you” (Luke 7:36-47)? The disciples at the table don't like the cost (Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-8). This money could have been used better, smarter or at least she could have given the money to the whole group to make a plan. They may as well have said, “this foolish woman squandered her savings on perfume.” And they are right, it is expensive. The nard or ointment is likely imported from the Himalayan mountains and likely costs three hundred denarii in a time when one day’s labor earned one single denarii. The cost is high and not everyone is ready to pay the price.
It is expensive, but it is not foolish or reckless. Jesus rebukes the men and says whenever the good news is preached and the bread is broken in love, it will be shared in remembrance of her. Wherever the good news is shared, people will remember her. Except, the writers don’t give us her name.
In Remembrance of HER
The Gospel of John remembers her name, Mary (John 12: 1-8). Mary anoints Jesus in love. Because Mary understands the cost is high. She knows what is to come. She knows that unless Jesus backs down or gives up his deep passion for God’s loving world, he will face the wrath of Rome. She knows what is ahead. She knows he will die. She does not try to talk him out of it or pull a sword like Peter. She anoints him, just like prophets anoint leaders before her.
She stays right there. Jesus is not alone. Peter may have denied him; Judas may have betrayed him. She teaches us what love looks like.
She loves beyond the pain and trauma and violence. She witnesses Jesus' reality. She will not leave him alone. I imagine them both catching a scent of the anointing oil on the breeze, still in their hair and deep in their skin. She stays. She organizes his burial, and she prepares to anoint him one more time.
Cynthia Bougeault says, “true courage comes when the heart sees so clearly with the eyes of love what has to be, the only way that it can be; that perfect love does, in fact, cast away fear.”
In the grief and the early morning haze, Mary Magdalene sees through the eye of her heart, Jesus is not gone. She hears him and senses him. And she is the first preacher of Easter’s resurrection. She is the apostle to the apostles. She embodies Paul’s phrase, “Love Never Dies.” Love believes all things, bears all things, believes all things, enures all things. She echoes the ancient poetry “Set me like a seal on your heart, for love is as strong as death” (Song of Songs).
The world gives every reason to be afraid. It tells us to be quiet and makes us feel small, especially in the face of power, violence and crucifixion. But Mary shows us how to love. The world told her to be quiet and she said, “I have seen the Lord.”
She can do this because she has done the hard work; she has grappled with her demons; she has committed to a way of love and practiced seeing with the eye of her heart.
We need this part of the Chrsitian story. We need to recover it, study it, do our own work of living into it, just like Mary Magdalene did. We need a faith of love that rejects power over in favor of power with, love that gives us courage for the everyday, a love that sees all as sacred.
Love means giving extraordinary gifts. It means bringing the anointing oil to the party, no matter how extravagant it seems or how judgy others might be. It means courage that comes from the heart and love that never dies. That’s what Mary saw and that’s what she proclaimed when she preached that first Easter sermon.
May we have the courage to listen. Amen.