What about the Stone?

2018 Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women

We have now reached the second Sunday since the glories celebration of Pascha. Where we stood at the empty tomb and proclaimed that Christ is risen from the dead. We as the people of God repeated again and again that Jesus has conquered death by his death. From there we came to Thomas Sunday, hearing those very powerful words of our risen Lord, “as the Father has sent me, I send you”. (John 20:21) Yes, we are sent forth into the world to be faithful disciples of the Living God, bringing his love and mercy to all those whom we meet. In other words, making the powerful effects of the Resurrection manifest in the present time. Saying through our daily actions, “yes God’s new creation, his new age is breaking forth into the world.” So then why are we back at the tomb today? Why does the Church now celebrate the “Myrrh-Bearing Women”? 

I have often pondered this question and I think the clue comes in the words of the women, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” (Mark 16:3) We as the Church return to the tomb we the great assurance and life changing Good News that Jesus is risen from the dead, but we also at times in our lives, live as if the stone is still in place and death and sin are still in control of us.  This Sunday we must take upon ourselves fully what is means to worship and serve the risen Lord, to put into action what St. Paul tells us in Romans, “For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (6:9-11) To do this, we too must do as the Women did and make a plan to remove the stones that lie before us. 

Think how the Women spent Friday night and all-day Saturday asking that same question, “what about the stone?”.  “What about the stone?” Do they have a concrete plan as they go to the tomb? We cannot be sure. But we do know that they are going there, no matter the cost. The Roman Guards, the Imperial Seal upon the stone does not intimidate them. They have decided the anoint Jesus’s body and that is just what they are going to do. When they do arrive at the tomb, they find nothing as they expected or planed for. The stone is rolled away, the guards are missing, the seals are broken, but what do they find? An angel telling 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. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” (Mark 16:6-7) Yes, the angel is saying, “Jesus has been faithful to what he said he would do, now go and proclaim the Good News!” I love the words that Luke adds to the scene, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5-6) This reminds us all that we find Jesus where fruitful life is being lived, not among the tombs, not among sin and death. When we live our lives contrary to God’s plan for us, opposed to the Gospel that Jesus is Lord, then we are again seeking the Living One among the dead. We put the stones that Jesus has broken back into our lives and we stumble upon them and very often fall. This is what the Church wants us to see today. That Jesus Christ is the one who rolls the stones out of our path. Only with a plan to act as God’s faithful, image bearing disciples can we accomplish what our Lord desires from each of us. 

Then Saint Luke in his Gospel finishes out the story by telling us what the Woman encounter when they come back with the News that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead, “Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” (Luke 24:10-12) From that day to this one, so often this is the reply to the Resurrection. “Oh, you Christians and your tales of a risen God, come on now. Let’s grow up, we don’t really believe this.” Yes, this is heard both inside and outside the Church. But we all do this when we put those stones back into our lives and do not let the power of the risen God transform our lives. Do we trust Jesus as our Lord and direct our daily actions fully around his Lordship? If not, then we are doing the same thing the world often does, questing if Christ is really risen from the dead ones. One thing about this issue that we can learn from the Myrrh-Bearing Women is that we must have a plan. How do we as married people for example, live a life daily that reflects the awesome truth that Jesus is our Lord and God, our risen Savior? Do we pray together, we spend time talking about issues and problems when they come up? A married couple should never go to bed without settling an argument and letting the love of Jesus break the stone of hostility that my lie between you two. It’s those small rocks of small problems that grow and become big stones down the road. Put Jesus and his transforming power at the center of your marriage. By doing so, we show forth that yes, the world is indeed a new place since Pascha morning. Yes, indeed God’s new age has burst forth into creation.  

For all of us, we must not return to live among the dead ones. Each of us must take account of the relationships that we may have. We at times have to ask the question, “is this person fruitful for my life or do I often find myself in trouble when I spend time with him or her?” That is a great difficulty for many people. I had to go through this process when I returned to the Church after a time away. There was a group of friends that I had who I had to leave behind in order to follow Jesus fully. We can’t live as we desire on Saturday night, among the dead we might say. And then on Sunday morning act like God’s people, seeking him at Church. No, it does not work like this. Our Lord wants all of us. The first fruits that we have to give him. Again, Jesus is the one who has rolled the stones away for us to walk freely toward him, let us not put those stone back in our way. 

We all as the Women did, need to have a plan and even when we do not find what we expect around every corner, let us live by our faith in the risen Lord Jesus. Listen to what he tells us, how does he desire us to live our lives. Invite him into your heart and mind to break down and stones or walls that lie in our path. Allow with the full assurance of the empty tomb the power of the Resurrection to be at work in each one of us. Be the very vehicle that God’s mercy and love travels through into the world.