“Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to
the Father.
But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
(John 20:17
NRSV)
It is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, precisely because Jesus
told Mary Magdalene to “. . . go . . .” Contrary to what men may say, each of
the Gospels bear witness to the fact that women
are the first Apostles. By definition, an apostle is one who is sent. Mary
is sent by Jesus. Pretty heady stuff . . . and, in the Gospel according to
John, not only is she sent, she is sent to proclaim a very specific message:
Good News! Death has not won! “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God.”
I love it! The Apostolic ‘burr under the saddle’ of a patriarchal institution,
namely the church. Not only is death turned upside down by what God is doing,
so is the structure of human relationships and personal value. In the moment
when most Jesus needs ‘just the right person’ to bear His Good News out to the
world, Jesus selects Mary Magdalene, not Peter, John or James, all of whom were
with Him when He was transfigured. No, Jesus selects the invisible one, the marginalized
one, the overshadowed one. Jesus selects the least among us to bear the
greatest of Truths.
The Life of Jesus comes full circle: Born in the lowliness of a
Bethlehem stable, to a woman whose name the world had never known . . . now
Jesus is Born into New Life in the lowliness of a Jerusalem tomb, the event of
which is first proclaimed by a woman whose name the world had never known. Both
women named Mary.
Easter isn't about a day in the Church Calendar, it is about the
ongoing redemptive work of God through Jesus Christ to announce Good News in
an, often, unhearing world, through the voices of those whose lives have,
first, been transformed. As Mary mourned what had happened to her Friend, her
Savior, she found her tears dried in the gentle embrace of His Love, her grief
assuaged in His Peace, her hopeless replaced by His Grace. Then, as though those
gifts were not enough, Jesus sends her to tell others of what she has heard and
seen. Such a message can only be believably told by one who has been a
first-hand witness. No hearsay will hold up in the court of public or private
opinion – and a woman, not just any woman, this woman, Mary, is such a witness
with a powerful message to the disciples, to the Jews, to Rome and to the
world.
Easter is about the hungry being fed, then feeding others.
Easter is about
the thirsty being given drink, then passing the cup of water to another.
Easter
is about the stranger being welcomed, the turning to welcome the next stranger
in.
Easter
is about the naked being clothed, then offering the clothes off their back for
another.
Easter is about
the imprisoned being visited, then extending the visits to those who are still
imprisoned.
Easter is about the sick receiving of the love and care of another,
then offering the same love and care to others.
Easter is for the invisible, the marginalized and the overshadowed,
that they may find new Life and become the bearers of Good News into the entire
world. Easter is about the overthrow of oppressors and those feeling entitled.
Easter is concerned less with law and more with the ‘Aha!’ of God’s love and
grace. Easter is for the ghettos of our living, for the war-torn and ravaged
of earth’s plains, for the orphaned and widowed, and for those who are judged
as sinful and for those who suffer unjust judgments.
Easter is God’s to dispense, not ours to control. Easter is a Message
to share, not a sale to attend. Easter is a transforming Spirit, not a claim
for human authority. Easter is a humbling Joy and exhilarating Refreshment. Easter
is a Restorer of God’s Vision and an establishment of God’s Order. Easter is
the naming of a New Day in God’s Kingdom - which transpires Every Day in God’s
ongoing History.
Easter is both Rejoicing and Warning: Rejoicing, in that God continues
to shape, renew and birth New Life into unexpected places and people; and,
Warning, in that God will not have humanity subvert what God is setting in
place.
From the earliest of the Gospels, Mark, we hear the first words of
Jesus in his public ministry after His Baptism, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (1.15)
Easter is coming and those announcing it are the ones you would least expect.
Easter isn’t just for men anymore, never was intended that way. Easter is God’s.
Get with it, get on board and rejoice – or get out of the way. God will not be
silenced. Ask Mary.
