Each of the Gospel accounts tells the story of Easter in a slightly different way. Many students of the Bible think that the original manuscript of Mark ended at verse 8 of chapter 16. If that is the case, that version ends with the women who discovered the empty tomb being seized with “terror and amazement.”
It is good to be reminded of that reaction. We have lived so comfortably with Easter that perhaps we find that the discovery of the empty tomb stirs no particular emotion for us. Rather than being shocked and frightened by these things that we do not understand, we simply slide straight into a mode of celebration.
Clearly, the resurrection of Jesus is to be celebrated, but perhaps we would gain even energy for the celebration if we first struggle with the shock of just how amazing this is. But the truth is that once we learn that the tomb is empty and once we have seen the risen Christ, the mood shifts from sorrow to joy, from emptiness to completeness, from terror to triumph.
When I was a little boy, every year on Easter morning I was given some new item of clothing. It might be a shirt; it might be a pair of socks; it might even be new underwear. Easter was about a new beginning, a fresh start. Easter was about things being different. Easter was about replacing my old self with a new self.
A new self. A risen Christ. “Alleluia!” In Charles Wesley’s familiar hymn “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” the joyful “Alleluia” comes at the end of each line. (Most scholars say an anonymous author added that word throughout the original Wesley text.) For those congregations that have not used that praise word “Alleluia” during all of Lent, it is a jubilant recovery of the resurrection victory. “Alleluia” (Hallelujah) means “Praise ye the Lord.”
Even if we have gotten comfortable with the news of the resurrection, perhaps we would do well to have some of the “terror and amazement” that filled the hearts of the women at the tomb (Mark 16:8). What does this resurrection mean for my life? What does this resurrection mean for my death? Let’s enjoy meeting the risen Christ!
