“Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away” ~ Mark 16: 1-4
The season before Easter can be particularly difficult to endure. You may have noticed that in many churches there is a focus on Jesus’ journey to the cross and the suffering he had to endure.
There are two ways that we tend to deal with the story of the cross that is laid out for us in the Gospels. One way is to see Christ’s death as bad news and something to be avoided. There are already too many negative things going on in our lives and we would prefer not to relive the pain and suffering of the cross. For many, Good Friday is not so good. Instead, we would prefer to skip Good Friday and head straight for Easter celebration.
The other perspective understands that the only way to Easter resurrection is through the cross. It is difficult to truly celebrate Easter without first considering the love that God demonstrated through the cross and how that event causes us to evaluate our own sense of pride and the wrongs we have committed. When we encounter the cross we discover who we really are and that experience enables us to accept God’s offer of forgiveness and grace.
The cross leads us to contemplate the God who has reached decisively into the human experience and has become acquainted with the situations in our lives that cause anxiety, that cripple our faith and dispels all sense of hope. As someone has said God “is the Fellow-Sufferer who understands.”
But we don’t merely follow a God who understands our troubles but who has given us hope beyond what we can ask or imagine.
Sometimes we find ourselves echoing the question of the women at the tomb “who will roll away the stone?” Who will lift away this heavy burden from my life? How will I get the strength I need to make it through? The truth is that there are some things we cannot do by ourselves no matter how hard we try. Sometimes we need help.
And that help has come in the resurrection of Jesus on Easter day. God rolled away the stone. By rising again, Jesus broke the power of death and has promised us an abundant life in this world and also in the one to come.
May we be encouraged by Jesus’ words, “I am the resurrection and the life, those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live” ~ John 14