Sermon on Easter, Year A: What is your Version of the Story?

Let me start by noting that Jesus practices some good social distancing in today’s gospel. “Noli me tangere” he says in the Latin translation of the Greek. “Don’t touch me.” Who guessed such prophetic words would be so applicable to today’s situation? We are not, for the love of God, to touch each other! Especially without washed hands.

Now I say this with a bit of wit, but such is always the problem with interpreting scripture—how do we make these stories from ancient times relevant and meaningful? If you attended the Vigil service last night, you might remember that I asked you to remember the details of the resurrection story, as told in the Gospel of Matthew. To save you the difficulty, here they are:

  1. Mary Magdalene and the “other Mary” go to the tomb.
  2. The earthquakes; and then one angel descends from heaven stone rolls; guards play dead.
  3. Angel tells the Mary’s that they should go to see Jesus in Galilee, many miles away.
  4. On the way to tell the disciples, Mary and Mary meet Jesus and hug His feet.
  5. Jesus tells them to tell the others to meet Him in Galilee.

So, five main points. Now, what is the resurrection story as told in the Gospel of John?

  1. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb alone.
  2. Stone already moved, she finds tomb empty, goes and tells Peter.
  3. Peter and “the other disciple [John?]” find the tomb empty and go home.
  4. Mary, alone, encounters two angels, who ask her why she is crying.
  5. Jesus is suddenly there (but unrecognizable) and asks her the same question.
  6. He says her name, Mary recognizes Jesus.
  7. He tells her not to touch him, explaining she should tell the others He is ascending.

Do you note the differences? If I had time, I’d spell them out (especially the role of women). But the point of this review is that these discrepancies are why I just roll my eyes in disbelief when some Christians say the Bible is inerrant, without mistakes, and must be taken literally as true. How do you reconcile these two versions (and I’m not even tossing in the other variations from the Gospels of Luke and Mark) without making a mockery of “facts”?

Thus, the Bible is a book full of error and inconsistency.
The Bible is imperfect, frustrating, too often obscure, and even dangerous.

Yes, and the Bible is a collection of books that reveal to us truths about God.
In its mixture of history, poetry, eye-witness accounts, myth, prophecy, philosophy, advice, and so much more, we can see those truths in our own way.

I teach art history, and one famous artistic theme is the “Noli me tangere” story I mentioned at the beginning. Through the centuries artists take those few words and create paintings which differ from one another in many ways, such as how sexy or serious Mary and Jesus are, style of clothing, garden setting, mood of color and light. These artists take the few factual elements we find in the gospel and re-interpret them to find the artistic truth of the story.

So what spiritual truths do you find in our faith? Today, on Easter, we celebrate Christ is risen! Every day we try to love God and our neighbor, as Christ loved.
How do you make any of that meaningful in your life?

 

Written for the parish of St. James & St. George 2020 April 12

Last Updated: 2020 April 12
URL: <http://therev.brianpavlac.org/srms/20200412.html>