It is this slow start to the Spring which came to mind as I was contemplating the Easter readings and especially the Easter gospel from Luke. The Easter gospel does not start with a fanfare on the organ or with a triumphant shout. No, all the resurrection narratives in the Gospels start tentatively rather like the first signs of Spring. There is hint here, a word there, yet another sign but all accompanied at first by anxious moments, doubts and hesitantcy and even contradiction. Again it is easy for we the readers and hearers to become impatient with the gospel narrative: why don’t they get it? Just consider the text. We find those faithful women mentioned in all the gospels coming to the tomb of Jesus in the early dawn to do for the body of the one they had loved and followed all that was necessary for final burial. They came faithfully but sadly, filled with their grief, and yet wanting to do something. Is it not so true in the face of the death of one we love simply to get on and do something, anything in fact that takes our mind off our grief. I think I understand the second Rector of this church whose wife Mary died so early in his Rectorate. His memorials to her surround us in this church including the Pascal candle stick and this chancel screen. He felted he needed to do something in order to focus and make some sense of his grief.

And so the women came. But again as all the gospels agree on things were not as expected at the tomb. It was both open and empty. That fact was of great importance to the later church. We are not dealing here with spiritualism or some psychological experience of presence of the one who died. For the early church it was of central importance that Jesus died and was buried and that his resurrection was physical. The tomb was empty. The gospels make specific testimony of the fact. But for the women intent on doing their sad duty to the body of Jesus this was indeed perplexing. But even their feelings of perplexity did not last long. For they were according to Luke confronted by “two men in dazzling clothes”, angelic figures from another realm. The women we are told were “terrified and bowed their faces to the ground” in the face of this heavenly presence. You do not mess with angels!

The angelic message is threefold: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” “He is not here, but has risen.” Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” But in Luke’s Gospel the women do not see or meet the Risen Lord. All they hear is the angelic message. But importantly when challenged to remember the words of Jesus while he was alive “they remembered his words.” The trouble was like for all of us we hear things on one level but do not always take them in. Maybe we don’t want to hear them, like predictions of global warming. Maybe the time is not right for us to hear clearly. It must have been difficult to hear Jesus the one they loved and followed speak of his own future death. That was the last thing they wanted to hear. I liked Elizabeth Edwards’ response to Oprah Winfrey recently when asked about facing her own certain death. Elizabeth Edwards replied so wisely that all of us face certain death sometime. But it is not a subject with which we deal easily.

But the women did remember. That remembrance, that calling to mind the words of scripture, the teachings of history, our own experience, is so important to our human and Christian maturity. What we having been doing these past few days in the readings and liturgies of Holy Week has been remembering in a special way what God has done for us in and through Jesus his Son. And in remembering the women did not keep what they remembered to themselves but “returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.” Luke’s Gospel and its second part, the Acts of the Apostles, is very much the missionary gospel. It tells the story of the telling of the story, the proclamation of the gospel of the Good News of God’s Love made known in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But Spring comes slowly. The very next verse in Luke following our gospel portion reads: “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” You can tell people the best news in the world but they may not be ready to hear it. They say we hear what we want to hear. Undoubtedly there is an element of patriarchal attitudes at play here. How could you trust a bunch of women? But while acknowledging that there is a universal element at play too. As human beings we can be so entrenched in one reality that we find radical change to that reality very threatening. That hesitancy with the fact of the resurrection of Jesus is present in all the gospel accounts. Think of Mary Magdalen outside the tomb meeting the Risen Lord and supposing him to be the gardener. Or of Thomas when told of the Resurrection doubting the fact unless he could touch the physical wounds. Strangely to us there is a lot of wondering and doubting and perplexity surrounding the Resurrection of Jesus. You will remember that Mark’s gospel in its traditional ending has the women running from the tomb filled with terror and amazement and fear.

Yes the gospel record of the Resurrection of Jesus tells of a slow unfolding of the reality for the disciples. Bit by bit they catch on and get it. Even when confronted by the Risen Jesus in Luke’s account the disciples disbelieved in their joy. It was in face of that that Jesus gave them the promise of the outpouring of his Spirit upon them which happened in Luke’s account on the Day of Pentecost. It is that pouring out of the Spirit of the Risen Christ that enabled Peter in the first reading from Acts to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus no longer with tentativeness but with great boldness: “but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear.” This is the classic proclamation of the early church which is the basis of our faith. Ultimately the Resurrection of Jesus defies all human reason. It is THE action of the Saving God. God raised Jesus from the dead. That is what we proclaim today.

Nevertheless some would say that the Gospel narratives of the Resurrection are confused and unclear. But on the contrary I find them to be true to our experience of life. It takes time to adjust to and comprehend new reality. Many of us would assent to that in terms of our own faith. We may get bits of the faith. But there is often a good deal of agnosticism around the edges. All of us yearn to believe it all now. But it rarely happens that way. Slowly but surely through the experience of life, by deepening our liturgical and spiritual lives, the truth of God grows in us. Like St Paul says our faith is often like looking into a “mirror dimly”. But Paul adds “but then face to face.” There will be that time when all will be disclosed; when we will fully understand.

Today we hear the wonderful proclamation “Alleluia, Christ is Risen” to which we respond “He is risen indeed. Alleluia.” May the reality of the Risen Christ continue to grow in each of us and to transform us from glory to glory.   Amen

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