Richard Kuns
Dear friends
I am writing these words on Good Friday morning. You will be reading them on the first Tuesday of Eastertide. For many people Easter has come and gone. Life goes on as usual. You and I, however, are entering the 50 Days of Eastertide--the longest liturgical season of the Christian year. Alleluias are restored and we reflect on what it means to be formed, shaped by the resurrection of Jesus. We prepare our hearts to be literally filled and “blown-away” by God’s unpredictable and wild Spirit on Pentecost.
But in the days following the crucifixion and resurrection, life was anything but moving on as usual. Distance and time have dulled our senses. As you read this morning, try to place yourself in the shoes of those women, especially, Mary Magdalene.
You will weep and wail…You will be overcome with sorrow, but your sorrow will turn into joy…you will have sorrow now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will celebrate, and nobody will take your joy away from you… (John 16:20, 22, N. T. Wright)
Mary Magdalene stood with other women in the background and away from the crowds that day. They watched in horror as Jesus was crucified. (Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40-41).
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Where you there when they pierced him In the side?
Where you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble,
tremble, tremble. (1)
Mary Magdalene followed at a distance to witness Jesus' dead body taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb. Mary needed to know the location of the tomb because it was her intent to make certain he was properly prepared for burial.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Jesus transformed Mary Magdalene’s life. (2) Jesus spoke a word over her and the demons/fears that claimed and disrupted her life were gone. But now she was powerless, and fear began to grip her heart once more! Mary’s words had no authority to intervene! She couldn’t wash his body, anoint him with spices or chant Psalms as she wraps him in a linen burial cloth. She stood watching helplessly. But come Sunday, she will go to the tomb and faithfully give Jesus, her healer, teacher and friend, the proper burial rites.
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Sunday morning came. It was early and still dark. As Mary approached the tomb, she could make out that the tomb was open and empty. Perhaps she thought, “They not only killed him, but they disturbed his tomb.” 3
Mary was standing there—alone--frightened--weeping (the Greek word means “wailing”)!
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
She peered into the tomb once more. There was a spoken word! She noticed someone - a gardener or tomb-keeper? She didn’t know. He asked her why she was there and then he spoke just one word. That one word was her name, “Mary!” Jesus spoke a word and Mary’s life moved from fear to shalom, from weeping to celebration, from sorrow to glad song.
Were you there when he rose up from the dead?Sometimes I feel like shouting “Glory,” “Glory,” “Glory!”
The sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out… The sheep follow him because they know his voice… (John 10:3b, 4c; N. T. Wright)
We are so distant in time and place from that resurrection encounter that we do not experience the exquisite chill that ran up and down Mary’s spine. She heard her name! She knew the voice! It was the voice of the One thought dead but now is living. We get just a glimpse of Mary’s emotion as she instinctively reaches out to touch the living Jesus.
It is just a word! But when the word is your name, you turn to notice who spoke. There is no word that carries as much emotional and spiritual power as your spoken name.
Mary begins to run! She runs--not from fear--but because she has news so wonderful it cannot be kept silent. With that word from Jesus, Mary Magdalene became the “Apostle to the Apostles.” The woman, once claimed by demons and desperate fears, becomes the radiant evangelist. Alleluia!
You have turned my dirge to a dance for me,
undone my sackcloth and bound me with joy.
O, let my heart hymn You and not be still,
Lord, my God, for all time I acclaim you.
(Psalm 30:12-13; Robert Alter)
Richard Kuns
(1) The Hymnal 1982 #172. The lyrics of this spiritual were first printed in 1899. In 1940 the spiritual was included in the hymnal of the Episcopal Church and was the first spiritual published in any major American hymnal.
(2) Luke 8:1-3
(3) John 20:11-18