Texts: Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, John 20:1-18
Happy Easter! The Lord is risen, and He lives. Jesus’ Resurrection is not just a happy ending to Lent and Holy Week, but the beginning of a new way of life for humanity. We are not condemned to die in our sins, to be banished as if we never lived. If we are repentant, our sins are forgiven by God. And this brings us the joy of a new chance to live a wholesome, good life even now, and the hope of being forever in the presence of God in the next life. We have been freed from the bondage of sin. Let’s celebrate our freedom.
Some of you may know that my husband Bruce used to be a police officer. One of the most important skills a police officer learns in the police academy is how to write a good police report. Some cadets had a difficult time with this. It’s not easy to learn how to be very specific, to ask a lot of questions, to be observant, and to focus on details. One has to learn to think differently and more analytically. Most of us would just want to get to the answer, the ultimate determination of what happened.
All criminal cases are based on what is contained in a police report, so it is vital to the case for the report to be accurate, contain all knowable facts—even if they seem insignificant—like which way the wind was blowing or what time it was, and not include mere opinions. Eye witnesses may be sincere, but they are very often incorrect. A police report is not an argument for the prosecution. That’s the job of a prosecutor after a thorough investigation is held. A police report is as Joe Friday from Dragnet would say, “Just the facts, mam.”
Questions for eyewitnesses might include: Who was present? What time was it? What was the weather like at that time? Which way were you facing? What did you see? What did you do? What were the people wearing? Where were you standing? What did they say? What did you say? Then what happened? Just the facts, mam.
Today’s account of the Resurrection from the Gospel of John is very much like a police report. There are details in it that seem insignificant—the two disciples were running together and one outran the other, one disciple looked into the tomb, but did not go in, the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was rolled up in a different place than the linen wrappings, and then the disciples returned to their homes. How are any of these observations important?
Whether or not such mundane observations may turn out to be important later is irrelevant. This appears to be a report that came from people who personally observed these things. Otherwise, why make up such irrelevant details? Initially, everyone was confused. It was not what anyone expected to find—an empty tomb.
I took a creative writing class in high school that was formative for me. We were taught when writing fiction to include nothing that does not contribute to the development of the story. That keeps it interesting. Everything has a purpose, there are many clues—even if at first they seem loosely connected. Though a man coming back to life after 3 days may be hard to believe, there are details here that don’t contribute to the development of the story, nor do they offer clues to the truth.
There are 4 Gospel accounts of what happened, but John’s stands apart. John’s report just may be the way it happened. It seems entirely credible. Mark was the first to put down an account of what happened in written form. Mark’s version of what happened reveals a lot of confusion—perhaps reflecting the immediacy of his account, too close to the events. Even though John’s Gospel was written after 90 a.d. it retains some of the details found in the Gospel of Mark, which was written prior to the fires during Nero’s time in 64 a.d. That’s about 26 years to confirm Mark’s account of what happened, and time to reflect on what it meant, the conclusion. We could say John’s version of what happened was distilled, and yet it still retained some of those extraneous details. Perhaps John truly wanted to be accurate, not just theological.
There was an interesting survey taken in 2021. The question was put to Americans “Do you believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected?” Even as fewer and fewer people are committed Christians and attend church, 66% of those survey believed that the resurrection did happen. Perhaps they’ve forgotten what it means, how significant it is. It would appear that belief in the Resurrection is a great place to start a conversation with many people.
The older I get, and the more removed we are from the Day of the Resurrection, the more credible it gets year after year. For almost 2,000 years what happened on that day has been examined through the lens of archeologists, scientists, doctors, historians, theologians, believers, and atheists.
There were witnesses at the time who were not inclined to believe that Jesus from Nazareth was the Son of God or that he had risen from the dead. Yet, they gradually came to believe. Paul was one of them, as were many Roman soldiers, even those who participated in Jesus’ crucifixion.
Have you ever wondered if you were among those first witnesses, what would you have believed? Would your skepticism overcome what you witnessed? Would those loud voices opposed to Jesus still ringing in your ears make you afraid to believe? If you did believe, would you have kept your mouth shut out of fear? St. Paul once wrote, “Because I believe, I must speak.”
So, it is true that Jesus, the Son of God, on this day rose from being dead after 3 days. This remains the most significant event in human history. Just as the cloth on Jesus’ face was removed as he took in the breath of life from his Father, so is the veil between us and God removed so we too can breathe in new life. This life is different from what most of the world knows, which sadly is mere existence. We do not need to die from sin, and our life has purpose and meaning. This is the life of light, peace, joy, and love in the nearer presence of God.
We do not have to wait until life in heaven to experience it. Trusting God, accepting what Jesus has accomplished to redeem us, we can live this life even now. It is natural that we would want this life for our family, our children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors. Because we do believe, we must speak what we believe. So today go in peace to share what you know about the Resurrection. Amen.
