Holy Week

1. David Lose – "It’s Only the Beginning"

The story of what God is doing in and through Jesus isn’t over at the empty tomb, you see. It’s only just getting started. Resurrection isn’t a conclusion, it’s an invitation. And Jesus’ triumph over death, sin, and hate isn’t what Mark’s Gospel is all about. Rather, Mark’s Gospel is all about setting us up to live resurrection lives and continue the story of God’s redemption of the world.

Mark gives us a clue to that in the very first verse, in an opening sentence that is almost as abrupt and awkward as the closing one. Mark, you’ll remember, doesn’t give us the long genealogy of Matthew; the tender story of shepherds, angels, and a mother and her newborn together in a stable as in Luke; or the theologically soaring and totally wonderful hymn to the Word made flesh of John. Rather, Mark says simply, even pointedly, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Goodness gracious, but that doesn’t even sound like an introduction (and, indeed, some have wondered if it was Mark’s title rather than opening line). But the key thing here is that Marks says straight off that all of Mark’s writing is only the beginning of the good news of what God has done and is still doing for the world through Jesus the Christ.

It’s only the beginning; this story isn’t over. It’s only the beginning, and we have a part to play. It’s only the beginning, and if you wonder why there is still so much distress and pain in the world, it’s because God’s not done yet. It’s only the beginning, and Mark is inviting us to get out of our seats and into the game, sharing the good news of Jesus’ complete identification with those who suffering and his triumph over injustice and death with everyone we meet. It’s only the beginning, and we’re empowered and equipped to work for the good in all situations because we trust God’s promises that all will in time come to a good end even when we can’t see evidence of that.

It’s only the beginning….

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From “Good Friday” – Right Rev Brian Burgess. From the Anglican Digest, Spring, 2024

A childhood friend reached out to Burgess close to a weekend.  The friend was serving as a sheriff.  At the time the friend was 2 hours away. He asked if the priest could get away for the weekend to catch up.  It was not the usual weekend, however.  It was the Triduum, the last days of Easter. The priest could not slip away. So his friend came to his church. Although not part of any church, he came to the priest’s Good Friday service. The priests reflected in an article about Good Friday.

He described the church as “tomb-like in an intentional way”. What my friend experienced was the church – “stripped, cold, and bare.” “It was a place where death goes in order to be prepared for the resurrected glory in Christ.” The priest wrote that Good Friday is the one service essential for those unchurched. “I believe we lose sight of the essence of Easter when we have no concept of what it is we are being saved from. We can become distracted from the cross of Christ. To merely survive is to shoot too low.”

“The goal of our Christian lives is our death and resurrection in Jesus Christ.” He noted the sheriff has “experienced the worst of the worst when it comes to the human condition, and who by default has been given secular responsibility for broken and fractured lives.”  On Good Friday, “the very worst of our secular lives is turned into sacred”  “Eternal life begins now.”

With Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter “are an expression of God that demands to be told as well as experienced, in one, complete, ongoing story.” “Our dying in Christ while being stretched out on the hardwood of the cross is integral to that story.”

 
 "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not) – Correggio (1534) 

I.Theme –   Easter celebrates the  reality of Jesus’ resurrection in all its many aspects.  Hope, Transformation, Evangelism and a new life.

John’s Gospel, one of the longer accounts of the Resurrection, shows the ability of the risen Christ to bring transformation and hope into the most difficult situations of human pain and grief is powerfully and movingly highlighted. With this encounter, John ‘leads the reader from the empty tomb to that which is the real meaning of the resurrection – the creation of a new relationship between Jesus and those who believe in him.’

By contrast, Mark’s account is the shortest. And in Mark’s account, not even the women, who faithfully come to the tomb on that first morning, go out to proclaim the good news–instead, they flee in terror and amazement, and say nothing to anyone (vs. 8).   However, it should be noted and appropriate that  the first witnesses to the Resurrection are women,  who would not have been considered reliable witnesses at the time.  It is a life changing event and one outside our normal expectations. The Resurrection is The Resurrection of Jesus, though foretold in the Gospels, was never expected or understood by the people closest to Jesus. It is something new, something amazing, something so wondrous that it takes a while for it to sink in. 

The Corinthians reading is the oldest of all testimonies to our Lord’s resurrection from the apostle Paul. Indeed, the point at which 1 Corinthians 15 stands closest to the Gospels is the identification of Simon Peter (Cephas: verse 5) as among the first to whom the risen Lord appeared (cf. Mark 16:7; Luke 24:34; John 21:1-8). At this point, Paul’s list omits the most obvious part of all the gospel resurrection narratives, when his account is set next to them — where are the women? Paul’s writings precede the writing of the Gospels. It is historically impossible to know what kind of information Paul received from others about the resurrection.   The point is that while Paul was late to the Church, Paul senses God’s presence and grace and that Jesus dies to save sinners for all.  

The Acts reading emphasizes the broader nature of the resurrection spreads the message of Christ to all and in particular the Gentiles.  It is Peter’s missionary speech to Cornelius, a Gentile centurion, and his household. The conversion of Cornelius marks an important turning point in the understanding of God as impartial and consequently the outreach of the Church to Gentiles. Many “circumcised believers” (11:2) rejected and feared the possible inclusion of Gentiles in the Church, but Luke makes clear that Peter himself (even before Paul) began the mission to the Gentiles under the direction of the Holy Spirit (1:8) because his idea of God had changed. 

The Psalms speak to the type of life we receive in Christ. 

1. In death to sin, self, and the world (v.3a; cf. 2:20; Rom. 6:6-11)
2. In spiritual resurrection to newness of life (v.1a; cf. 2:12-13; Rom. 6:6, 11)
3. In new, spiritual life, aliveness to God (vv. 3b, 4a; cf. Rom. 6:11, 13)
4. In resurrection glory (v.4b; cf. Rom. 8:17-18; 2 Thess. 1:10) 

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm – Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Page 760, BCP 
Epistle- Acts 10:34-43
Epistle- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Gospel John 20:1-18
Gospel – Mark 16:1-8

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