04092023 – Matthew 1-10
How do you get the Easter Bunny to stay longer than just today? You raise his celery!
What happens if you fall in love on Easter Sunday? You live hoppily ever after!
How does Easter end? With an “r!”
Why don’t you see dinosaurs at Easter time? Cuz their eggs-stinct!
Ok, now that that’s out of my system, lets plow ahead…
And just like that…heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’s baaack!
Very early on a Sunday morning, after the Sabbath day has officially passed…while it is still dark outside…
Mary Magdalene and the “other Mary” head over to the tomb.
Not to bring spices, not to anoint, but out of a sense of devotion and caring. They go because they cannot stay away any longer.
Just to keep you up to date, we still don’t know who the “other Mary was” It was such a common name.
Its Hebrew name would be Miriam, like the sister of Moses.
Could be Jesus’ mother, (but if it were, wouldn’t it say so?) could it be his aunt, could it possibly be Mary of Bethany…could it be any number of faithful female followers…and maybe that’s the point…(it is non-specific on purpose!)
As it turned out, the “sealing of the tomb” didn’t do much.
An earthquake and an angel can open that “bad boy” right up!
Easy peasy, like it’s nothing…
Incidentally, Matthew is the only gospel to mention “the earthquake.”
In Matthew’s gospel, there are earthquakes both during his passion (or his suffering on the cross) and at his resurrection.
It seems to symbolize that the earth could not bear his suffering, nor could it hinder his rising.
The guard of a dozen men or so, four for each watch of the day, became paralyzed with fear – so they were basically rendered “useless.”
So much for being some of the finest and the fittest and the strongest!
The whole point of the stone being rolled away…is like an “open house” – come in, and “take a look and see,” it’s empty, clean, neat, and tidy! No muss, no fuss. Nothing to see here! The resurrection has already occurred. Check it out!
The reason for removing the stone is so that the two women, and I suppose the soldiers too, can easily see inside.
No wonder they were frozen with fear!
(They had some ‘splainin’ to do!)
The two Marys are greeted by a single messenger who says that Jesus has been raised and they should GO and TELL the other disciples…
So, I am wondering, just thinking out loud to myself here, so does that make them “disciples,” as well?
Girl disciples, who knew?! I bet the boy-disciples, liked that!!!
And, guess whom they meet on the way to do just that?
Why, none other than Jesus-just-raised-from-the-dead-Christ!
Their obvious first reaction, is to fall down and worship him…
Giving him props and respect and all…
Naturally, they are ecstatic, and Jesus sends them off to tell the others…and to meet him in Galilee…
But at the same time, there is some fear…holy fear, awe…
Excuse me, but what is going on here?
What did I just see?
What did the angel just say?
Were we really talked to by a messenger of God?
And OMG, that was Jesus!
The resurrection of Jesus happened offstage. Out of sight. Have you ever noticed that?
Nobody was there at “ground zero” at “h hour.”
But what we see are the RESULTS of an explosion that makes the atom bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like the effect of “a single bacterium falling ever so gently to the ground.”
From that moment, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God has been exploding.
Sometimes in big ways…
And sometimes in not so big ways…
Usually, one person at a time…
One heart at a time.
One mind at a time.
One soul…
It knocks over the Roman guards, the massive stone is tossed aside like an Oreo cookie…and it transforms the lives of the disciples so that this tiny band of guys and girls turns the world upside down in just a matter of a few years.
The two Marys saw him on the cross, they witnessed his death, and they saw him buried.
One eyewitness is better than 20 ear-witnesses. No amount of explanation can ever adequately explain the meaning and significance of Easter.
When in Israel, you can go and find the burial places of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sara, Rebecca, and Leah. You can visit the tomb of Ruth and Jesse. You can go to the Tomb of King David. You can find the tomb of Rachel in Bet Lechem.
But you can not find the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. He is not there. He is Risen.
And again, as is my custom, I actually saved the worst for last.
What does one Easter Bunny say to another if they want to flirt?
I think you’re EAR-resistable.
Amen.