Blocking Jesus

1 And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; -- it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they  laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you." 

8 And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid. 9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. (Mark 16: 1-13)

Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Christ hears Jesus call her by name.

Saint Mark summarizes the events of Easter Sunday. He reports how the grieving apostles refused to believe the eyewitness accounts of those who encountered the risen Lord. Evidently, Thomas was not the only doubter in the crowd. According to Saint Mark’s account, they not only rejected the report of Mary Magdalene but also that of the disciples who returned from Emmaus. Their grief and disappointment at the death of Jesus blocked their ability to receive the message of hope. Theirs was not a simple and passive lack of faith. Rather, theirs was an outright denial of the good news announced by the witnesses the risen Lord had sent them. Their sentiments will be verbalized by Thomas, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn. 20:25). They chose to remain in their grief rather than accept the possibility that Jesus actually did rise from His tomb.

We are not that different from that group of fearful and confused apostles. Like them, we are locked within the walls of our defense mechanisms. We don't trust ourselves. We don't trust other people. We are not sure if we can trust God. It is easier for us to remain in our anxiety and doubt than to allow the risen Christ to be part of our lives. By trying to stay within what we have grown accustomed to we actually impede our ability to be the men and women God created us to be. The more we try to justify our choices, the deeper we sink into the abyss, an abyss that Christ overcame by His resurrection from the dead. As in the case of Saint Peter, the Lord is ready and willing to grab hold of us as soon as we cry for help. Remember the account of Jesus walking on the water. As the waters rise over Peter's head, Jesus stretches out His arm and says, "Don’t panic. I'm here!"

This Gospel account tells the story of how the apostles were called out of their darkness into the light of resurrection joy. The sealed and guarded tomb could not confine the Risen Lord. Having risen from the dead, Jesus would not permit locked doors to confine His disciples. Because they saw fit to reject the messengers He had sent them, Jesus saw fit to rebuke them for refusing to trust in His word.

We may be more like the disciples than we would like to admit. We tend to be selective when it comes to listening to the messengers God sends us. We shut out any challenge to enter more deeply into the mysteries of faith. Like the disciples we want to keep our expressions of faith closeted away so as to be polite and nice in the midst of a society that has lost its moral compass. Christ exposed Himself to the torment inflicted upon him by the culture of death. Upon the altar of the cross He conquered sin and death. With His dying breath He gave the victory shout of the Kingdom of Life. The tomb burst open because death no longer had any hold on Him. Now, He calls us to throw off the chains that once bound us and to come forth from our captivity so as to walk in the Light. Christ is risen from the dead. By death He trampled death and to those in the grave He granted life.

--Fr. Jerome Machar, OSCO