The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” --Matthew 28:5-7
(I bet you thought I had completely disappeared, didn't you? Nope. Just a long, unplanned hiatus while life whizzed past around me.)
It's Holy Week.
We have completed another period of Lent, a time of introspection and, for many, self-denial. Perhaps we gave something up for those forty days, and perhaps now we can hardly wait to take it up again. Or perhaps we've discovered that that thing, whatever it was, wasn't as vital to our lives as we thought, and we can easily continue doing without.
Still ahead in our observances lie Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
We will recall Jesus' time in the Garden, when his disciples succumbed to the needs of the flesh and simply could not stay awake, keep watch with Jesus as he prayed.
And we will recall the darkest hours of Good Friday, when the whole earth was covered in darkness and Jesus-- even Jesus experienced a sense of abandonment by the Almighty as he hung flogged and nailed to a cross, awaiting the release of physical death.
And of course, the next stop is Easter morning, or Resurrection Day. We will raise our voices high in praise and celebratory remembrance of the day death was forever defeated and life became victorious.
But remember: we have the benefit of about 2000 years of retrospection.
Wander back for a moment to that first "Easter," when Jesus was first crucified.
Matthew tells it this way: An earthquake rolled the stone away from the tomb. When the women showed up to give Jesus' body the ritual attention he deserved, an angel was there, bright as lightning and white as snow, and (after initially scaring the bejeebies out of them) informed them that Jesus was not there, but had gone on ahead to Galilee.
Can you imagine?
Dead people don't just stroll out of the tomb and head for Galilee. They don't just stroll out of the tomb and head-- for anywhere. And yet. The angel is very clear: He is not here. He is going ahead of you to Galilee.
So what does this mean, for us, today? Where are we looking for Jesus-- and where is he, really? Where has he gone ahead to wait for us to catch up?
Here's what I think:
Many of us come looking for Jesus in our churches and chapels, our houses of worship. We show up weekly or monthly (or yearly) and affirm that God is safe in the heavens, all-powerful and enthroned above us all.
And we return to our complex lives, assured that God will again be there when next we return to church or chapel.
It seems sometimes as if Jesus is always "one step ahead," as if we can hardly grasp him in the here and now. Even in church. Why is that???
Galilee, where the angel said Jesus had gone, was a working man's community. Fishermen, craftsmen-- people who get their hands dirty when they work. Quite probably not the most refined people you would ever meet, with distinct accents and perhaps a bit of lassitude in their religious practices. (How many times did someone make derogatory comments about Nazareth or Galileans in the Gospels?) Why return to that place?
I wonder. I wonder if the message Jesus wished to get across was that we won't find him in the places we expect, or the places we have assigned him to. And we won't find him hanging out with the people we might expect.
But if we follow him out into the world, if we are unafraid of spending time with those whom the world might mark as "less than," we just might draw closer and (re)discover Jesus.
Not in some beautiful architecture or even some amazing landscape clearly wrought by a powerful Hand, but in the grateful gaze of a hungry child as we offer food. Or in tears shared following a loss.
Still, even with 2000 years retrospection, sometimes it seems strange that the King of Glory would choose to avoid pomp and spectacle. And that even as we would all love it if he would simply stay awhile with us, Jesus continues on the move, going ahead of us, preparing the way not only for the next life, but right here, right now in this life.
Always on the move. Still the God who pitched his tent to dwell among us (John 1), yet ever ready to pack it up and move along, leading, guiding, patiently waiting for us to find him. Again. (Thank God for that internal GPS of the Holy Spirit gifted us following his death.)
So where are you looking for God/ Jesus these days? You may find him there, or perhaps find evidence he was there-- but don't tarry long. He is probably waiting for you.
In Galilee.
Come prepared to work.
Gracious One, when life is challenging, remind us that you have gone ahead, to lead us and show us how we are best equipped to serve you-- in this world. Amen
