Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.

Mark 16:6

Early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, three women went to the tomb of Jesus. They found the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty. They didn’t know it yet, but it would be the greatest event in the history of our world. It would change their lives forever. And it has changed our lives forever as well. But what, really, does it all mean? 

What does it mean for us that Jesus has been raised from the dead? What does Easter actually mean? For those three women, it at first simply meant confusion and even fear. When they got up early that day, after the sun had risen, to go to the tomb, they were not thinking that they would find the tomb empty. In fact, they were trying to figure out who would roll away the stone, so that they might go and anoint Jesus’ dead body.

But when they arrived at the tomb, they found the stone already rolled back. And as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. This angel told them not to be alarmed, and explained that Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, was raised from the dead, and was not to be found in the tomb.

Their confusion and fear mounted. And they fled in terror and amazement, and said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. This is not the reaction we would expect to the joy of the empty tomb, to the joy of that first Easter!

Easter’s Radical Claim

But I wonder whether in our honest moments, we, too, might find the events of Easter rather disturbing. After all, what would happen to our lives if we put this miracle at the very center of them? If we made this miracle the cornerstone of our lives, then all of our priorities and commitments would have to be rethought.

If Jesus is alive and with us to the end of the age, then everything we do must be oriented around this earth-shaking fact. If we’re not a little afraid that this is all true, then maybe we haven’t thought enough about what it all means.

Easter is life-changing, it is radical, and it explodes all of our old assumptions and understandings. And, yes, it is true: Christ has died. Christ is risen from the dead. And Christ will come again. And we who believe this can never live in the same old ways again. 

As one preacher put it: “Easter is the hardest word, because it is the greatest intensification of the claim of God on our lives.”

Easter makes a radical claim on our lives. If it is true that Jesus has been raised from the dead, and if we believe it, then nothing is the same again. Everything is changed, forever! It is no wonder that so many doubt or question the resurrection! It does change everything! And that is frightening.

Hard to Believe?

But if we feel that way, we are in very good company today. After all, in every gospel account of the resurrection, the first response to finding the empty tomb is that of fear. And sometimes doubt. Why? 

It is not so very hard to believe that God created the heavens and the earth. It is not even so hard to believe that God helped Moses rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. But apparently it is hard to believe that God’s Son, who died for us, really was raised from the dead. Again, why? 

Well, I suppose the main reason is that no one really expected it to happen. There were many people expecting a Messiah. But not a Messiah who would die and rise again. So, it was hard to believe even for those first disciples. 

But what about us? We live in the time after the resurrection and the ascension. Forty days after Jesus was raised from the dead, he ascended into heaven, promising to send his Holy Spirit to us. Which is wonderful, but also means that we must believe without seeing. We must have faith. Faith that Christ has died, and Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. It can be hard to believe all of that. 

Mark’s Abrupt Ending

And the account of the Resurrection in Mark’s Gospel doesn’t seem to help very much. It ends with the women leaving an empty tomb in silence. And it ends without the disciples seeing the risen Jesus. 

The risen Christ never appears in Mark’s Gospel. The women never tell others of Jesus’ resurrection. It all ends in silence, and in fact in the original Greek it even ends in the middle of a sentence. 

There has been much conjecture and debate about why Mark ended it this way. Some have even speculated that Mark died or was killed before completing his gospel. Two alternative endings were added to his gospel by the early church. In most Bibles, they are called the “Shorter Ending” and the “Longer Ending.” But they were not written by Mark. 

So, what’s going on with Mark’s abrupt ending? I believe that Mark intended to end his gospel just where he did, exactly as just heard it. And the reason is because the Resurrection for Mark means that the Gospel never ends. It is a story that continues to unfold. 

The fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead means that the gospel continues to be written. Every time the Church speaks or acts in the name of Jesus, it is adding to the gospel. It is a story in progress. And we are writing it. We are living it. 

Everyone who reads or hears Mark’s Gospel is now part of the unfolding story. It has not ended. One Christian writer describes this perfectly in the form of a riddle: 

“When is an ending not the end? When a dead man rises from the tomb — and when a gospel ends in the middle of a sentence.”

An Ending Yet to Be Written

Mark’s ending is not the end. Because the end of this Gospel has yet to be written. The women who discovered the empty tomb said nothing to anyone, at least at first. But they must have eventually told someone or we would not be here this morning. 

In fact, the church would not be here if those who discovered the empty tomb had not let that discovery completely change their lives. 

There is no Church without Easter. And there is no Church without people believing in Easter, and sharing their faith. 

The women at the tomb summoned the courage to live out what they had discovered, and the church was born. 

You and I are being invited to do the very same thing this morning. We are being invited to live out what we have discovered, the empty tomb, and the good news that Jesus Christ is risen, and promises to come again. 

The Gift of Faith 

We are here this morning, you and I, because we do believe this. The miracle of Easter is not just that Jesus was raised from the dead. It is also that we believe it. Through the gift of our faith. 

As Lutherans, we believe that faith is a work of God and a gift of the Holy Spirit. We have been given that gift. It’s why we are here. We may still have our moments of struggle and doubt, but we are here because we have been blessed to be given this incredible gift of faith.

Easter matters to us, or we wouldn’t be here today. The resurrection of our Lord changes everything. We believe that. 

But what about the world? Does Easter matter to them? 

Our World Needs Easter!

Our world needs Easter, that’s for sure. Not just egg hunts and ham dinners, but Jesus, risen from the dead. Our world needs a Savior, who loves them, who dies for them, and who is with them still. 

But Mark ends his gospel without an appearance from the risen Jesus for a reason. He wants to show us that Jesus will only show up in the world now through his followers. He is relying on us. 

Yes, he promises to be with us. And yes, he promises to return again. But in the meantime, the only way the world will come to know Jesus is through us. And the only way the world will become convinced that Easter matters is if they see that it matters to us. 

Practice Resurrection 

So how do we do that? We can “practice resurrection,” as a poet once put it. We can practice being Jesus in the world. Practice bringing Easter into our world. Practice makes perfect, as it has been said. But we don’t have to be perfect. Just faithful. And trust that Jesus will one day make it all perfect. 

And since we have the gift of faith, we can do this believing that Jesus will be with us as we practice resurrection. That is his promise to us. To go before us. To go with us. Not to leave us. And one day to return to us. And we know all of this because of what happened that first Easter morning. 

There You Will See Him

The angel said to the women that first Easter morning, 

“Go, tell his disciples and Peter that [Jesus] is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

Jesus goes ahead of them, and Jesus goes ahead of us. And there we will see him, just as he promised. 

And we know all of this because those same women – who left the tomb in fear that morning – did eventually summon their courage and share what they had been told. They lived their lives in a whole new way, because Easter changed everything for them. 

They shared their faith. They practiced resurrection. And the Church has been doing this ever since. 

There is no Church without Easter. And there is no Church without people believing in Easter, and sharing their faith. 

The women at the tomb summoned the courage to live out what they had discovered, and the church was born. 

And now it is our turn. To continue to write the story of the church, the gospel, through our lives of faith. It is up to us to show the world why Easter matters so much. 

We can do this by living out what we believe. By practicing resurrection. By bringing the risen Jesus into the world, knowing that he is already there, just as he promised. 

Easter means that he is there, and he is here, now and always. Thanks be to God. Amen.