Bible Text: John 20:1-18 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. “Where would you like to sit?” he asked politely. “The front row, please,” she answered. “You really don’t want to do that.” the usher said. “The pastor is really boring.” “Do you happen to know who I am?” the woman enquired. “No,” he said. “I’m the pastor’s mother,” she replied indignantly. “Do you know who I am?” he asked. “No,” she said. “Good,” he answered and walked away. Now, I know this is a joke but I began to wonder how would you have reacted and how would I have reacted. First, I likely would not discourage someone from sitting in the front row; second, I don’t really know what it is to be a boring pastor. But in all seriousness I have been wondering about how we all react differently to different situations. I read a paper on the psychology of human nature and discovered that even psychologists differ in their theories as to why we all react differently even when experiencing the same situation. There is cognitive theory which believes that responses to situations are governed by emotions, which actually cloud our logic- making it difficult for us to remember events accurately. There is biological psychology that believes our DNA has something to do with our reactions and on the opposite side there is the nurture argument- that we react based on our environment and culture. Finally there are personality theorists which believe that our reactions are governed by our disposition- which is often a combination of our genetic and learned behaviour. Basically we don’t know how or why the human mind works this way but all we know is that it does. One person’s kindness is another person’s insult. One person’s boring pastor is another person’s loving son. One person’s resurrection story is another person’s idle tale or myth.
Today we hear three people who react in three different ways to some of the greatness news that humanity has ever experienced! On top of that if you have heard the resurrection story before you know that all four Gospels have four different accounts. In Matthew’s Gospel, which we heard at our Sonrise service this morning, Mary of Magdala and another Mary go to the tomb and there is a great earthquake, an angel appears, and Jesus meets them while they are on their way to tell the disciples. In Mark, which is not only the briefest Gospel but the briefest resurrection story too, the two Marys go to the tomb, but there is no earthquake, merely a man in white sitting on the stone and the women are seized by terror. In Luke it is Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Mary, mother of James, who go and find the stone rolled away. They are perplexed and run to tell the disciples of this mysterious miracle, and the disciples take it for an idle tale. John’s Gospel is the only one in which Peter and the disciple who Jesus loved, which by the way, scholars debate who that really was, appear at the tomb at all. Now, perhaps some of you are sitting there thinking, well this is proof that the resurrection story did not take place- these four different versions point to the fallacies within the Christian church. But where many would point to the differences, I would point to the similarities. Mary of Magdala is in all four stories, the tomb is rolled away in all four stories, there is great surprise, confusion and awe in all four stories. We all react differently to different situations, which means we all remember things differently. Even in our Gospel passage this morning the three people involved have three very different experiences and would likely have three different stories to tell. I wonder, how would I have reacted? How would have you reacted?
While many might disagree with me, I think that John’s version of the story is the most vivid. It certainly is the most detailed and different. While Mary of Magdala really is the main character, sandwiched in between is the story of Peter and the beloved disciple running to the tomb. There is a lot of running in this story. Mary goes to the tomb, then runs back to the two disciples, then the disciples run to the tomb and back to their homes while Mary- who presumably ran back to the tomb with the disciples- sits and cries in the cemetery. We could break this story up into three parts which could make for a great three part sermon but I’m not that traditional or boring. These journeys to and from the tomb would argue that our reactions are dictated by our emotions because Mary runs to tell the disciples that robbers have stolen the body. But then Peter’s reaction of running into the tomb to see for himself would perhaps argue that we react based on culture- he had to see for himself that the body was gone and finally the beloved disciple displays something of his disposition. While this disciple doesn’t go in to the tomb, he believes, as only one who loves and is loved by Jesus can.
There is a clever use of words throughout this story that only one who knows a bit about Greek can truly appreciate. There is a shift in the verbs used for “seeing” which may reflect the stages of faith. First, Mary sees, blepei in Greek, the empty grave and believes it is robbers. This is the same verb that is used when the beloved disciple sees the grave clothes. Blepei is most closely linked to the verb to look. It is superficial. But then Peter sees, theorei in Greek, the grave cloths which is the same verb used when Mary sees the two angels. Theorei is a word that is more closely translated as contemplates. Then the Gospel says that the beloved disciple “saw and believed” and the verb used is horan, which means to see with perfect sight. Mary uses the same verb horan when she says, “I have seen the Lord”. Now I know, talking this much about Greek verbs means I’m border-lining on being a boring pastor, but it really helps us with how we understand the different reactions to the story. There are those who take it at face value, not seeing beyond the empty grave. There are those who need to think about what this story really means and there are those who see that this is what Jesus was talking about for the past three years and believe with their whole being.
I would also argue however, that we are each Mary, Peter and the beloved disciple throughout our life. There are times when we react to God’s role in our lives like Mary did, with shock, fear, despair but ultimately with experiences of God’s love. There are times when we react as Peter did with curiosity, disbelief, a need for proof, but ultimately one who will work hard for the Gospel. There times when we react as the beloved disciple, shy, reserved, surprised; but ultimately it doesn’t take much for us to believe that God is good.
John’s Gospel, like the other three Gospels, acknowledges the difficulty of faith in the story of the resurrection. I don’t blame you if you are skeptical- clearly even those personally involved in the story were too. But what John does by combining these different experiences allows the text to place value on all of those complexities. As New Testament scholar Barbara Rossing put it, “Understanding of the Easter event builds piece by piece in John 20, progressively for the individual characters and progressively for the community of faith. This valuing of different experiences and ways of coming to faith can be a source of strength for us, both as individuals and as a community of faith.” We take these reactions and we live them out in our lives of faith. There are times we are running back and forth, and eventually we collapse in tears and exhaustion- but it is at those moments that Jesus calls us by name. There are times when it takes us awhile to recognize God in our midst. There are times when we need to see the world through another’s eyes in order to see the mysteries of God. We all react differently to this story but it is no joke. Jesus lives! Hallelujah! Amen