Fleeing from the Tomb

Mark 16:8-  “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.”

Each of the Gospels describes the story of the disciples reaction to the resurrected Jesus differently.  Matthew has the disciples receiving his message relatively calmly and  has them respond by going out on mission through Galilee and into all the world.  Luke and John have different accounts, but the core theme in both is that the disciples either don’t recognize Jesus or express doubt at his resurrection.  My favorite post-resurrection account by far is Mark’s in which he has the disciples respond to seeing the risen Christ by fleeing in fear and essentially hiding under a rock.

Doesn’t that seem like the mostly likely, and logical, reaction?  Your messiah, your rabbi, has just been brutally slain.  At any moment, you think you might be next.  Suddenly, that person that you know died seems to appear before you.  I can tell you, if my long deceased grandfather were to suddenly appear before me, I might hightail it out of the room myself.  At the very least, I’m making an appointment at the nearest psychiatrist's office.

Though Mark’s Gospel ends on a cliff hanger, we know that this wasn’t the last word.  After all, if they had remained under a rock, there would never have been an early church.  Eventually, they must have managed to dust themselves off, shed their fears and begin to engage in ministry.  They began to tell their stories, love one another, and the movement took off like a wildfire.

Now that the spectacular miracle of Easter has occurred, do we find ourselves energized and engaged in ministry, or hiding under a rock waiting for the air to clear?  When God comes calling, there is certainly a part of me that always wants to stay hidden.  What if Jesus wants something hard?  What if the Holy Spirit directs me out of my comfort zone?  These fears are real and, in large part, justified.  We too have to go through a process in which some aspects of our life may have to die so that we may be resurrected today as transformed individuals.  We can take comfort and should celebrate the face that Jesus loves us and will take care of us for all of eternity.  But we can’t rest in that.  When the living Christ appears, we must eventually dust ourselves off, emerge from the shadows, and step out into the world.