Easter Reflection
In our Gospel reading from Luke, the faithful women go to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, but the find the tomb empty. They then go tell the male disciples, who dismiss the women, thinking their words “an idle tale.” But one of those disciples, Peter, “got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.”
Did you hear the end of that story? It says that this man, Peter, was AMAZED. Because he knew that his friend Jesus had died, and been laid in a tomb. But then he had heard that Jesus was raised from the dead—that Jesus was alive again! At first, he did not believe it. But went to see for himself, and the tomb was empty. And he thought maybe it is true. And he was amazed.
Do you know what it feels like to be amazed? To go “WOW!” To go, “...wow.” To be overwhelmed, and be silent…because something is so wonderful, so huge, so surprising, so…amazing.
Isn’t it amazing…that everyone here was once a tiny baby? Look around at all these grown ups. Every one of them grew in somebody’s belly for almost a year—and then they were born, and someone held them and looked at them and said, “wow.” It’s amazing that in the face of every baby—every person—we can see the face of God.
Isn’t it amazing…that one of these [caterpillar] eventually makes a little house for themselves—one of these [cocoon]? And isn’t amazing that what comes out of one of these doesn’t look at all like a caterpillar, but becomes a….I forget. What does a caterpillar become, again? It’s amazing how things and creatures and people can transform. It’s still the same creature, but so different. It’s amazing…
Isn’t it amazing that this [tulip bulb] sits under the ground for months, all through the cold winter…and then, in springtime, right about now, bursts into one of these [a tulip]?
Today is Easter Sunday, when we all gather to be amazed that big bad bullies tried to bury Jesus. They tried to bury his vision of a world where everybody has what they need to heal, and grow, and share their gifts with their neighbors.
The bullies tried to bury Jesus—but they didn’t know that he was a seed.
Some of you grownups might know this phrase, which seems to have come from a Greek poet, but was popularized about ten years ago by people in Mexico who were protesting the disappearance of their brothers, sons, husbands known collectively as the Ayotzinapa 43. They were protesting because the government seemed to have forgotten that every one of those disappeared people was made in the image of God.
It’s a good phrase to bring back, as our government has begun disappearing people, forgetting that Mahmoud and Kilman and so many others are made in the image of God, and deserve justice.
One way of thinking about Easter is that Jesus shows us that God is in every way ALIVE. Living things change, grow, die, transform, and in that transformation nourish other things. When the disciples finally do meet the Risen Jesus, they don’t recognize him at first. He’s the same, but different, like the butterfly and the caterpillar.
The good news is that the life of this living God is stronger than any bully, stronger than any army. God’s love is deeper than death. And we can share in that life. We can trust that God is with us when life is bursting into blossom, and God is with us when we are buried and left for dead.
God goes with God’s children to the show trial, to the black site prison, to the Cross, to the grave. There is nowhere God will not go with us, and for us. There is nothing that can ever separate us from the love of God. The love revealed when the women went to the tomb and found it empty, when Peter went to the tomb and was amazed.
They tried to bury Jesus, but they didn’t know that he was a seed.
Amaze us again, O God.
Amen.
