“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; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”     Mark 16:1-8

“…for a long time I figured Mark was great with the middle but not too hot with beginnings and endings. Until one day it occurred to me — actually, I’m pretty sure I read it somewhere, but I can’t remember where! — that maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised about his ending after all. Because this ending actually fits into a two-part pattern that permeates the whole of Mark’s account. The first part goes like this: the people who should know what’s going on, like the disciples, don’t. Jesus predicts his passion three different times and yet they still don’t understand, are surprised by what happens, and don’t believe what he said. Again and again, the disciples disappoint, and so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that these women who, let’s remember, had the courage to stay with Jesus to the end and then ventured to his tomb to tend him, nevertheless fail like the other disciples.

The second part of the pattern goes like this: the people who do realize who Jesus is can’t be trusted to tell. Take, for instance, the demon who possesses a young man at Garazene. He recognizes Jesus, asking, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (Mark 5:7). The demon knows who Jesus is, but can you count on a demon for a testimony?! And then there’s the Roman centurion, who immediately after watching Jesus dies states, “Truly, this man was God’s son” (Mark 15:39). But can you count on a Roman centurion for a testimony?

So there we are. All the people who should know, don’t. And those who do, can’t be counted on. So it appears we’re in a bind. Except … except there’s one other person who has seen and heard everything Jesus has said and done. One other who heard Jesus’ predictions and then watched as they came true. One other who listened to the amazing news at the empty tomb and heard the order to go and tell. Do you know who what other person is? It’s you. And me. And all the readers of Mark’s gospel…” (Dear Working Preacher, David Lose, Just The Beginning, April 1, 2012)

Think about the things that you have done to fill the voids in your lives.  Now think about the women coming to the tomb on the first day of the week after Jesus, their teacher and friend had been killed and laid to rest.  As the sun was soon about to rise, they were walking to the tomb, and there would have been a great emptiness – a great void in their minds and a void in their feelings as they trekked to the tomb.  There was Mary Magdalene, one of the closest friends of Jesus, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome.  While the others had fled, while the other disciples were hiding, the women, who had stood of in a distance to watch his agonizing death, these women were coming to the tomb to do what their society expected them to do.  The emptiness they had to have been feeling and experiencing must have been overwhelming.  So to help deal with the emptiness, they were coming to do something that gave them purpose.  It would help to fill the emptiness. 

But when they came to the tomb, and found IT empty, they must have had a tidal wave of emotions almost knock them over.  The first emotion would have been confusion.  Things were not as they should be.  The stone was not in front of the tomb – it had been rolled away.  Their concern for how to move the stone would have now switched to WHO moved the stone.  Who could have done such a thing? This would lead to dread and alarm, for instead of finding the stone at the entrance of the tomb, it was moved – and instead of finding the body of Jesus, they found it EMPTY.  It was empty except for a man in a white robe.  Where is Jesus?  Where did they take him?  What is going on?  The young man dressed in white tells them something incredible – Jesus is not here – Jesus has been raised.  Now go and tell Peter and the other disciples that Jesus has gone to Galilee.  Go and tell them all. Then the text from Mark tells us something amazing.  The women do not listen to the man in white – their emptiness is filled with fear and terror and amazement – and they go home and tell no one. 

What kind of ending is this?  It seems like an empty ending.  The Greek actually ends in the middle of a sentence – it is void of a conclusion –  “They said nothing to anyone, they were afraid for…..”  it says.  It is devoid of ending, of purpose.  It is empty……

Now, it seems to me that if the women went home and told no one, would we be sitting here celebrating the empty tomb?  Probably not.  Most likely the women went home and told everyone – Peter and the disciples, because the empty tomb meant something profound.  To me, the empty tomb speaks volumes. Jesus is not dead.  Christ is alive – Christ is risen – Christ continues to fill our lives in so many, many ways. 

This morning we are given a great gift – and we are given a choice.  The gift for us is the empty tomb.  The empty tomb means that Christ defeated death and we have the opportunity to share in a resurrection like Jesus’.  Christ has been raised and we will be able to share in this reality when everything comes to completion through Christ.  That is the greatest gift any of us could receive.  The choice we have is this:  will we react like the women on encountering the empty tomb as the scripture tells us – they went home in fear and amazement and said nothing to anyone?  Or, will we become bearers of this amazing story?

Pastor Dave