Sermon

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Exegesis on Gospel of Myrrh-bearing Women

On Holy Thursday evening, we read 12 Gospel passages about the Passion, Crucifixion, Death and Burial of Christ. And when we came back on Easter night, we heard the good news of the Resurrection. In this morning’s Gospel lesson, the cross and the empty tomb are connected in one selection of reading—the Gospel of this morning combines the 10^th Gospel from Holy Thursday night with the Gospel of the Resurrection that we read at midnight on Easter.

The passage centers around the courage of Joseph of Arimathea and three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome. I mentioned during Holy Week and in the May Messenger which you should receive in the next day or two, that the crucifixion is an historical fact. It has been dated to the 14^th day of the Jewish month of Nisan in the year 29 A.D., during the rule of Pontius Pilate as governor of Judea. That day, the 14^th of Nisan in 29 A.D. was a Friday—it was the day of preparation for the Sabbath, the day of the Passover. We know, according to Jewish Tradition, that no work was done on the Sabbath. Crucifixions required work, consequently, they were not carried out on the Sabbath. For those who know something about crucifixion, it was not only a painfully excruciating way to die, it often took a great deal of time. Those who were hung on crosses would push their bodies upward to take a breath of air, then their bodies would come down and relax, then push up again for air. Over time, they would become exhausted, dehydrated, sunburned, picked at by birds and would just give up, eventually dying by asphyxiation, unable to move themselves in order to breath. So that the bodies not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders asked that the legs of Jesus and the two criminals crucified with Him be broken. So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the two criminals, because by breaking the legs, they would not be able to push up their bodies for air, thus hastening their deaths by asphyxiation. Then they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. Jesus Christ remained Lord, even in death—He didn’t give up His spirit and then have His head fall, as we so often see in movies. Rather He first bowed His head, then gave up His spirit. So the soldiers, seeing that He was already dead, took out a spear and pierced His side and out flowed blood and water. This again, is historical fact. The blood represents the Eucharist with the water representing Baptism. This foretells of the sacramental life of the Church, and also united the Old and New Covenants—the Old Covenant included a history of crossing the Red Sea and water coming out of a rock to give drink to the thirsty Israelites in the desert. The New Covenant was the blood of Christ shed for the life and salvation of the world. This also fulfilled a prophecy that not a bone of Christ would be broken, just like at the first Passover in Egypt, not a bone of the lamb that was sacrificed was to be broken. Again, these are historical facts.

So, when it was the evening of that Friday, the 14^th of Nisan in the year 29 A.D., Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Sanhedrin, or Jewish Council, went to Pilate and asked for the Body of Jesus. This was an act of great courage. We are not told whether Joseph was present the evening before as the Sanhedrin gathered to condemn Jesus and hand Him over to the Roman authorities. Presumably Joseph was there. Certainly he had knowledge of the proceedings. And perhaps feelings in the minority, couldn’t muster the courage to speak up for Jesus. Perhaps he still wasn’t sure what to think of Him. After all, we know that Nicodemus, another member of the Council, had met with Jesus on several occasions, but in secret, to learn, but out of fear that others would know. Having witnessed the crucifixion, Joseph now manages to muster the courage to go to Pilate and ask for the Body. Whatever his reservations in doing the right thing the night before, he now knows what the right thing to do is. So he goes and asks Pilate for the Body.

Pilate marvels that Jesus is already dead, as he knew that crucifixions often lasted days, not hours. After learning from the centurion that Jesus was already dead, he granted the Body to Joseph for burial. Then Joseph took the Body and laid it in a new tomb which had been hewn out of a rock. According to custom, tombs were carved out of soft rock in a cave-like fashion, sometimes with several chambers. Then a flat, circular stone was rolled into a prepared groove to shut the opening. (Orthodox study Bible, 128) Joseph wrapped the body in fine linen and laid His Body in the tomb. (Incidentally, this is where we get the tradition of wrapping the figure of Christ in white linen after it has been removed from the cross on Good Friday afternoon). Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where He was laid. And here ends the events of Good Friday. Up to this point in the story, historians all agree that these events are facts.

The Sabbath was a day of rest in Jerusalem. We hear nothing of events of that Saturday—the Body of Christ lay in the tomb, we know that. Presumably the disciples were in hiding. In a bit of symbolism, we know that when God created the world, He rested on the seventh day and He hallowed that Day, making it a day of rest which the Jewish people called the Sabbath. Christ finished His work, meaning through His crucifixion, on a Friday, meaning that on the Sabbath, He too, rested, in the tomb. It is indeed very symbolic that the day Christ lay in the tomb was the Sabbath, not another day of the week.

And now we leave history and enter faith. While Jesus was in the tomb, we believe that He descended into Hades and ministered to those who fell asleep in death before His Crucifixion. This is depicted in the icon of the Resurrection that we see on the wall of our church and also on the Resurrection Banner we display during the Paschal season. We see Jesus taking the hand of Adam and Eve, the first people to fall asleep in death. In the background, we see John the Baptist, David and Solomon, Joseph, and Abel—righteous figures who preceded Jesus Christ, but who nonetheless, fell asleep in death and were consigned to Hades, a place of separation from God. This is why the hymnology of the church tells us that this Sabbath is the most blessed of Sabbaths because Christ not only lays in the tomb, about to rise, but while in the tomb, He bestows life to those in the tombs.

The Gospel passage continues that when the Sabbath had passed, some time between sunset on Saturday evening and before the sun had risen on Sunday, three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought spices and went to anoint the body of Jesus. They waited for the Sabbath to pass, out of respect for the Sabbath-rest. They went to anoint the body of Jesus, as was the Jewish custom. Jewish tradition called for a body to be anointed, rather than embalmed. Not only do the women have a great respect and love for Jesus that inspires them to honor Him through the anointing, but they have great courage, at this moment, more courage even than the disciples, who are hiding, for they go out in the middle of the night, in a hostile city, in the dark and cold, to visit the tomb of the man that was the flashpoint of that hostility. This is courageous indeed. As they walk, they talk with one another, wondering “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” For it is a very large stone. When they arrive at the tomb, the find that the stone is rolled back. They see an angel sitting on the right side of the tomb and they are alarmed. He proclaims to them the good news of the Resurrection—do not be afraid; you seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is Risen, He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” The angel tells them “Go tell His disciples AND Peter that HE is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him as He told you.” The angel singles out Peter, indicating Christ’s loving concern and encouraging word for the disciple who had denied Him. The women leave the tomb quickly. They are trembling and in awe at the same time. They say nothing to anyone, for they are afraid. Here is where the Gospel passage of this morning ends. Reading on, however, in the 16^th chapter of Mark, we realize that the women tell the disciples the good news, but even these do not believe right away.

The Resurrection is a matter of faith. It is not a matter of science. We can’t intellectualize how the Resurrection occurred, though many have theorized. A miracle is where God suspends the laws of nature to make something extraordinary occur. Yesterday afternoon, we celebrated a wedding at St. John, and as I do at many weddings, I referred to the ceremony as a miracle—two single people become a family with the blessings of God. That is a miracle—it doesn’t occur because people sign a paper, or make a vow, or even because they feel love in their hearts. The union of two lives into one is a miracle that only God can make. Marriage, therefore, is not a legal contract, it is more than that. It is a sacred union. Marriage is a small miracle we witness each time we attend a wedding. When a person is loosed of sin through the sacrament of confession, and again feels whole and happy, this is another small miracle, made possible through the mercy and compassion and love of God. The creation of the world was a miracle of God—how it occurred exactly is something that we will never know in essence. Only that God, out of His abiding love, created a world in order to share that love with us. When we look at the world, it is very hard to dispute that its intricacies are the result of a power greater than us. And the Resurrection is the crowning miracle of God upon His world. Again, a suspending of the laws of nature in a way that WE, the human beings, cannot intellectually understand, so that Jesus Christ, crucified on the cross, dead and buried, rose from the dead, appeared to many of His followers, ascended in glory to heaven, sat at the right hand of the Father and will one day return to judge the living and the dead. These are miracles. It takes faith to believe in miracles. And it takes courage to have faith when others criticize you for having faith.

Overall, the Christian church in America and in the world is shrinking. We are becoming more secularized, being overtaken by other things that draw us away from God. Society is trying to marginalize the church by putting other things on the menu of life on Sunday mornings. The politicians and the courts regularly rule on where and how God’s name can be invoked and where His name cannot be mentioned. The state of the economy drives those who are not part of the church to criticize the church and ask “where is your God to save us from our economy?” And if you’ve lost your job, if you’re down a little down on your luck, you’ve had a family tragedy, or some other traumatic event, when you hear these voices from outside the church long enough, you start believing them. When you perceive that most people do not believe like you believe, then peer pressure pushes you to not believe as well. And when your kid is the only kid on the sports team who goes to church on Sunday, there is great pressure to keep him with the sports team, rather than make him the example. I guess I’ll find that out in a few years.

Even within the church, we talk about Easter as a holiday where we get together with family and friends, where we Greeks eat well after the 40 day fast, where we have the Easter bunny and candy. We don’t spend enough energy on the power of the Resurrection, the faith of Joseph of Arimathea, the courage of the women, the joy of the disciples who spread the Good News, and the hope of every person who sincerely holds Christ in his or her heart, who grows old and looks with joy, rather than trepidation at what is coming after life on earth ends.

Can you imagine the response if you shouted Christ is Risen around anyone who isn’t Orthodox? Would the response be “So what?!” or “Be quiet,” or “big deal.” There are a lot of disturbing trends in our society right now. And it’s going to take courage, faith and hard work to turn the tide on some of them. But it all starts off with an individual choice to believe. It begins with a personal choice to do the right things, the godly things, in life. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were the only members of the Jewish Council who spoke up for Christ. Joseph, we are told, eventually took the Gospel to the British Isles. The myrrh-bearing women journeyed through a hostile city under cover of darkness because they wanted to honor the Lord. They, too, because leaders of the early church, saints whom we remember to this day. We need to be courageous and diligent in following their example. The church, through this morning’s Gospel reading, calls us to again remember the joy of the Resurrection. As I read it this morning, I felt the same joy I felt on Easter night as I read the Gospel at midnight. As we finish each Liturgy of the Paschal season, it is customary for the priest to say the words “Auto I doxa ke to kratos, eis tous aionas Amin.” “To Him be the glory and the dominion, to the ages of ages. Amen. If we can muster the courage and the discipline to give God the first glory in our lives, we will share in that glory and dominion, to the ages of ages. The question is: Do you believe that? And will you have the courage to hold on to that faith regardless of what life throws at you? May it be so. Amen.