SURPRISED BY JOYReading: Mark 16: 1-8
One of the lovely and reassuring things about all the gospel narratives of the resurrection is that, while this is an earth shattering event that changes all things for all time everywhere, it is also portrayed as something intimate and very personal. Nowhere is this more true than in Mark’s brief account.
After the death of Jesus and once the Sabbath was over, three of the women who had been friends and followers of Jesus made their way to the garden in order to perform a last loving act for him, that of putting spices on his body. It was very early in the morning. No one else was about and, as they went, they kept wondering how they would manage to get the very large stone that had been placed across the entrance to the tomb moved. Imagine their surprise when they arrived, looked up and saw that the entrance was already clear! Someone had been there before them. Probably with some apprehension and nervousness they went inside, and saw a vision of an angel. This messenger of God spoke to them directly, reassuring them and then giving them the mind blowing, unbelievable message that Jesus was raised from the dead. Sure enough, there was no body there. And then he commissioned them to go and share this good news to his close disciples. (Mark adds, “including Peter.”) The essence of the message was this, “Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” What a vision! What a message to share!
It’s easy enough for us to go through life worried, anxious and fearful because of all the seemingly insurmountable boulders that can block our path. It requires more faith to look up, and to see, in the spiritual realms that what we thought was going to be a very heavy obstacle was really the entrance to something new, unbelievable and life giving. Perhaps we think that visions of angels, messages from God are only for the privileged few and are very holy, not of this world. But the message that this angel brought was to three ordinary women, and included a special word for Peter, for the friend who, at his trial, had denied all knowledge of Jesus, and who, even now, was overwhelmed with grief and regret. And to his little band of frightened, stumbling followers, the news that Jesus was going ahead of them and would meet them, not in heaven, but in Galilee; Galilee where they’d started out with him, Galilee with its poverty, unrest, oppression and marginalisation, Galilee, little icon of a desperate world that so needs the good news of forgiveness and resurrection.
Whatever our situation at the moment, the God who created the universe and who holds all things in his hands is the same God who, in the person of Jesus reclaims us, calls us each by name, forgives us, encourages us, goes ahead of us, and meets with ua again and again and again. And he commissions us to share his life with others, wherever our ‘Galilee’ is. Who knows? Today, if you look up, you, too, might see an angel, and, surprised by joy, you, too, might hear a message that could be an open door for you, or for someone you know and love.