April 17. 2022: The Mystery and the Meaning
The Mystery and the Meaning
John 20:1-18
April 17, 2022
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
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It is Easter Sunday, and once again we read the story of Mary in the garden, the first to see the risen Christ! There is so much happening in this story:
· Mary’s walk to the tomb under the cover of darkness
· Seeing the stone rolled away and an empty tomb
· Mary’s run back to Peter and the other disciple
· The run back to the tomb
· Peter and the other disciple witnessing the tomb as Mary described
· Mary’s tears in the garden after the disciples left
· The appearance of the angels
· Mary mistaking Jesus for the gardener
· Jesus calling Mary by name, causing her to recognize him
This year, it’s the next detail that most captures my interest and imagination: Jesus said to Mary: “Do not hold on to me.” What an interesting piece of this story!
Why did Jesus say this to Mary? There are and have been lots of theories throughout Christian history. In fact, this question has its own Wikipedia page with 15 theories named from “Jesus wounds were still sore, and it hurt for someone to touch them” to “Jesus resurrected body was not a physical body so it could not be held onto” to “Mary shouldn’t need to touch Jesus to believe in his resurrection.” There are lots of other theories, but let’s suffice it to say there is no consensus among those who study such things why or even if Jesus told Mary, “Do not hold on to me.” It’s a bit of a conundrum.
And let’s face it—there is so much about faith that’s a conundrum. The Christian faith can be confusing sometimes.
There is no better example of this than something I saw on social media this week. A Twitter user that goes by “The Fig Economy” posted: “My wife came to me and said ‘nothing can prepare you for our son’s Easter drawing.’ Reader, she was correct.” The drawing was posted for all to see containing a cross (that seems appropriate for Easter, right?) with the Easter Bunny nailed to it (oh my!) I couldn’t take my eyes off it, in the same way you can’t take your eyes off an ugly dog or the way you can’t help but look at the remnants of a car crash as you pass by. The Easter Bunny hanging on the cross. That’s something I’ll never be able to unsee.
You can’t fault the little guy for getting it mixed up. I sometimes get confused about how the Easter Bunny fits into the story as well, and I have two graduate degrees in this stuff!
All of that to say that faith can be confusing because there is so much that is simply . . . mystery.
As a culture, we’re obsessed with a good mystery. Think about how many CSI shows there are, for instance: there’s CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, CSI Cyber, CSI Vegas. But we also like our mysteries solved: almost every CSI episode solves the mystery within the 42 minutes allotted. “Wrap it up, put a bow on it! Next!” On the other hand, a show entitled “Unsolved Mysteries” ran for 15 seasons with 593 episodes. Whether solved or unsolved, we love our mysteries!
But when it comes to faith, it seems to me that there are at least two types of people: there are those who lean into the mystery of the faith, and those who must resolve all mystery. Let’s think about the latter group first—those who are determined to resolve all the mystery of faith.
At some point, a thinking person who has been, perhaps, brought up in the faith, will wrestle with stories from the Bible that don’t line up with how we know the world works: the six-day creation story, Jonah hanging out in the belly of a whale, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Christ—the thinking Christian asks, “How can these things be true?” And like a good detective trying to solve a mystery, the thinking Christian chases down leads. There are three basic results to this inquiry:
1. The person leaves the faith altogether after growing to believe, “These things cannot be fact and therefore cannot be true.” Atheism or agnosticism is a likely result of this path.
2. The person “doubles down,” growing to believe, “These things may not square with reason, but they must be fact and they must be true.” They squeeze science into their biblical worldview. Fundamentalism and biblical literalism are likely results of this path.
These two paths—the atheist and the fundamentalist—are similar in that neither of these paths allow for mystery. But there is a path that embraces mystery:
3. The person embraces both reason/science AND faith, believing that something can be true without being fact. This path embraces mystery. This path is the way of wisdom (but only those with ears to hear can hear this truth).
Back to Jesus and Mary in the Garden. “Mary, do not hold on to me,” he says, confounding Christians for centuries. I want to add my interpretation to the panoply of ideas out there:
Was Jesus telling Mary that she had to let go of what she knew
of Jesus yesterday in order to know the Jesus who reveals himself today?
If there is any truth to this theory, then does Jesus expect the same from us?
Must we let go of what we knew of Jesus yesterday
in order to know the Jesus who reveals himself today?
Here’s the deal: in order for our faith to grow, to expand, to adapt to changing times, we must continually let go so that God might reveal Godself anew to us each day, even each moment.
A faith that rejects mystery and locks in on literalism leaves little room for continued growth. On the other hand, a faith that embraces mystery opens the door to continued revelation, to a growing relationship.
Think about it this way: the average human brain weighs about three pounds. What hubris to think we can understand everything about God and the cosmos within one three-pound mass of tissue and blood and neurons! How arrogant of us to imagine we can know the workings of God! Every time I have tried to nail down Jesus, I find myself playing the part of the Roman soldier on Good Friday, on the wrong side of history.
I love how Anne Lamott says it: “The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.”
Where do you find yourself this Easter Sunday 2022?
· Clinging to certainty? Holding on to a biblical literalism that has all the questions answered?
· Dealing with doubt? Wondering what, if any, of the Easter story is true if it can’t be proven as fact?
· Fulfilled in faith? At home with both answers and questions. Ready, even eager, for some new truth to be revealed.
Maybe it’s all too much to think about and you’re just here for a little hope in the midst of trying times (and these are surely trying times). Nothing wrong with that at all.
Wherever you find yourself this Easter Sunday morning, the invitation is the same: hear Jesus’ words to Mary as if they are spoken to you this morning:
“Dear one, do not hold on to me. Let go of what you knew of me yesterday, and receive me anew today. Let me rise in you in new and fresh ways this Easter Sunday. Claim the hope I offer. Claim the strength I can lend. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Friends the mystery is this: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
The meaning is this: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again and again and again and again—every time we let go and open our hearts anew.
Open your heart to this mystery! And the meaning, dear friends, will follow.
The myst’ry and the meaning: Christ Jesus lives again!
The tomb could not contain him and death has met its end!
Now ris’n to life eternal, he reigns from heav’n on high.
We sing with all creation, “Oh Christ, be glorified!”
The myst’ry of his rising, confounding human minds,
We cannot grasp completely, mere glimpses do we find;
Like women in the garden, like trav’lers on the road,
We see but for an instant the glory of the Lord.
The meaning of his rising, in creeds cannot be held.
The truth of resurrection—beyond what books can tell.
We see through glass but dimly, by grace our faith maintain—
The myst’ry and the meaning: Christ Jesus lives again!