Rector's Easter Message 2024

‘So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.’

(Mark 16.8)

That is certainly the original ending of St. Mark’s Gospel. In itself quite probably the earliest of our present four gospels. What a way to start a religion, you might think. Let’s picture the scene. The women, worn out by their sorrow, still traumatised after watching Jesus through the Crucifixion, coming as soon as the law permitted, to do the last honours for their Lord. When they arrived at the tomb, they were utterly amazed by what they found. An open tomb and a young man dressed in dazzling white.

No wonder they said nothing to anyone out of extreme fear. The word fear can mean several things. It can mean that fear that causes flight, but it gradually came to mean that reverential fear that is also known as awe. And that fear grips you when God comes near. Fear is being shaken out of your certainties, being thrown out of your own control, having to struggle to make sense of and to cope with what is going on. We are constantly in that state as Christians for we try to see the world with God’s eyes and to live by the divine rule. That can be a pretty shattering experience.

In a deeply secular and self-centred culture, people who offer service are liable to be cruelly abused. When we stand in radical opposition to the values of this world, then sometimes we are derided and mocked in unexpected and uncomfortable ways. No one ever said it was easy being a Christian. Right from the beginning, it has been a work of discipline and determination to persevere only through God’s help.

So Christianity started with some alarmed women early one morning who found an empty tomb. For they were afraid. And do you know, they never recovered and nor will we. Our own understanding of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ makes us feel that same shattering knowledge of the immediacy of God? So, this is exactly the right place to end a Gospel and start a new religion.

Father David

Your friend and Parish Priest