Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers
St. Mark 15:43-16:8
St. Mark 15:43-16:8
Going to the Tomb – in ignorance and faith
Introduction
Joseph – a leader of the Jews and secret disciple of Jesus – asked the authorities for the body. He took it down from the cross, anointed it with spices, then placed it in a new tomb. He did this quickly so that he would not be defiled for the Passover/Sabbath. Once the Sabbath was over, the myrrhbearers went early in the morning to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away. An angel proclaimed the Resurrection of Christ to them, and they rejoiced and left in fear and trembling.
Last week we learned some of the mystery of what happened on the Sabbath, during the time in between the two events in today’s Gospel: that is, after the Noble Joseph and Nicodemus had buried Christ in this tomb and before the women’s arrival to further anoint His body. We learned about His descent into Hades and His victory over Death and the Evil One with all His minions; and about how, through this victory, He freed all mankind – indeed the entire Cosmos! – from death and sin. All this was accomplished through His passion, death, and resurrection. The fruits of this victory are available for those who believe in Him and devote their lives to Him and His Way. The history of that Great Sabbath are presented in full at the First Resurrection service of Holy Saturday and were repeated in the Myrrhbearer’s Vigil Service which we celebrated last night.
Today I want to focus on the actions of the myrrhbearers and what their witness teaches us about how we should live. In this, I will first describe their love for Christ, then their ignorance of who He was, and conclude with a description of their ignorance of what He would do for them.
They went in love for the Christ, making sacrifices and taking risks
Describe their love and its source. Describe the sacrifices and risks (e.g. Joseph’s reputation; the cost, time and reputation of the women myrrhbearers – it was not their feelings that they were serving, but their Lord).
What sacrifices are we willing to make? What risks are we willing to take? Do we have love for Christ, or do we only love Him when it is convenient for us? Are we willing to really sacrifice for Him? Love means to commit to something so strongly that we empty ourselves and serve something else. This is what they did; this is what real Christians do. We are Christians. We must learn to emulate the myrrhbearers in their selfless devotion to Christ. It is so hard for us to hear, much less for us to live; but the world does not revolve around us and our interests. We do not care for others so that they might care for us, but because it is what righteousness requires. We do not adore our Lord because of what He has done for us or what He might do for us in the future. Worship and devotion are not about us and what we want or think we need. Worship teaches us to love and then gives expression to it. Two hours a week is nowhere near enough to learn this lesson, and once it is learned, it is nowhere near enough time for its expression. It takes sacrifice and means taking risks. It takes effort. The myrrhbearers rose to the challengeand, through God’s grace, we can, too.
They went in ignorance of who He was
They trusted their love – that is to say, their selfless commitment – more than anything else. How else could they have done what they did? As the blessed Theophlact – following the lead of St. John Chrysostom – writes in his commentary; the women had no understanding of Christ’s divinity when they went to the tomb. As they approached His grave, they had no idea that He had already left. They thought they were going to serve Him – doing something for Him that He would not be able to do for Himself. They went to lovingly anoint His body. They believed that He had no life in Himself, that only His corpse remained. That there was no way that He could clean and anoint His own body, or that He would be able to thank them for their efforts. By this – the fact that they acted with no expectation of anything in return – their love is evident. When they saw that their expectations were wrong, when they learned that their gifts were un-needed, that their Lord was no longer dead but risen and in no need of their care, they reacted with fear and trembling at this unexpected miracle. They went away literally dumbfounded.
Like the Myrrhbearers, we approach God in ignorance of who He is. The Church is the body of Christ – God with us – and we approach it in ignorance of what it is. Just as the myrrhbearers loved Christ, we love the Church. As Nichodemus hewed the grave out of stone, the founders of this parish labored to build this church. As Christ said (St. Matthew 8:20) “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” So they built a temple for Him. And in that temple they built an altar for Him to lay His head. And we, loving Him and His Church, come bearing spices so that we can honor Him and His memory. Like the myrrhbearers, we think we are doing Him a great favor; preserving the physical presence for Him since He is powerless to do it Himself. Am I wrong here? Remember, the myrrbearers brought spices to anoint the body that they loved because they knew Jesus could not wash Himself. They knew that if they did not do this, that He would decay… that the form they loved so much would fall into dust. I really do fear that we feel the same way: we come to Church bringing gifts in hopes of sustaining and preserving it. Protecting it from the decay that would inevitably come without our efforts. Not really expecting that the place we visit and in which we pray to have any life in it other than the life that we bring to it.
The Myrrhbearers thought they knew who their Lord was, and they were wrong – He was so much more than they could have imagined. They thought that the temple of His body was dead and empty, something to be preserved; but it was alive, not needing their care, but demanding their awe and prompting them to action. We think that there is no life in Church apart from the life we bring to it; that it is in need of our care; that we must preserve it. But that is not the kind of service that the Lord requires: He is not a corpse in need of embalming; but the Living God whose very presence here demands our awe and whose love must prompt us to serve the world He died to make whole. Our tithes, our work in the kitchen, our music, all the efforts that we put into our parish life are not to preserve a corpse – much less a building – but given in service of the living God who is present here and fills all things. A God who cannot die. Like the myrrhbearers, when we are confronted with this reality, we are amazed and go back to our homes dumbstruck in fear and trembling.
They went in ignorance of what He would do for them
The stone. Too big for them to move. They knew this, but (more importantly) they knew what love required. It required that they make an honest effort. That they sacrifice themselves. That they take risks. And that they do this, despite not knowing how their goal would ever be accomplished. They go to be with their Lord – this is their only goal. To serve Him as best they could. Despite their weakness. Despite the obstacles. They don’t give in to a world that tells them they are wasting their time. That their Lord is dead; that there is too much between them (the stone) for them to reach Him. They simply loved Him and wanted to be with Him. They wanted with all their hearts to serve Him, so they did. They did it expecting nothing, but God gave them more than they ever could have expected.
We are the same. The world tells us that our Lord is dead. That the obstacles in the way of our journey to Him are too large for us to overcome. But we go because we love Him. We go because we want to serve Him. We go because we want to be with Him.
And God clears the obstacles and blesses us. Not by giving us access to His tomb, but by giving us access to His heart, by raising us up and making us His dearest companions, and by empowering us to become part of His living body.
Conclusion
No one expects this. No one can understand it. But we are awestruck and grateful. In our ignorance, we thought we loved a Lord that needed us to care for Him, that we had joined a church that needed us to preserve it; but we are dumbstruck upon learning that neither our Lord nor His Church need us at all – but are calling us to something more, something greater … something harder. Some may prefer to serve a corpse or to preserve a building made of stone. These are things we can understand. [These are] things that we can control. But the Church is not a funeral club – the tomb is empty! – it is the active Body of the Living God, A Body that does not need embalming, but offers a relationship with the Living God. The members of this Body are not in mourning, but rejoicing in the light of the resurrected Savior. We have no control over this relationship might take us, but that doesn’t matter: our love has emptied us of expectations and prepared us to pay any cost.
Joy is found in the risen Christ. Joy is found in the Living God. Joy is found in His Living Church. Joy is found in His service.