If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain”. In these words Paul tells us that, if the resurrection of Christ did not occur, then Christianity is a waste of time, we might as well lock for ever the door of our meeting rooms and burn our Bibles. The thought is developed in this vivid and deeply moving article.
Come with me to the garden where the dark is still very dark, though the dawn is near. Tombs are faintly discernible hewn out of the garden’s rock wall. Nor are we alone : a woman wanders lonely with grief along the dim paths. Let us accost her, and enquire her name. She replies, “I am Mary from Magdala, on the shores of Galilee.” “Mary, you are sad, and far from home, what is the reason for your grief ? “
“It was only two days ago that I stood by the cross on which He whom I proudly call, ‘My Lord’, was crucified, and died.”
“But, Mary, only slaves are put to death in such a way, yet you call Him your Lord. How can one menial enough for such a punishment be your Master ? Surely he was a criminal, for such punishment ?”
I, Sir, I was a very bad woman—the people of my village said I was possessed with seven devils, meaning I was completely evil, and, being unloved, my ways were unlovely. But my Lord spoke kindly to me (and that was unusual in my life), and if He could love me, what could I do but love Him, and mend my ways, as I do, with all my heart. Before He met me, the only love I knew was Eros, now I know Agape, and I know this only is true love.”
I am sure Mary would tell us not to look with scorn at the fallen, for our scorn is only a pretence, helping us to feel good by contrast, and this is a bad comparison. We should compare ourselves only with Christ.
If we do this, we shall no longer have our false sense of virtue ; we shall look with love and pity at him whom we previously scorned, saying to ourselves, ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I’.
Let us resume our conversation with Mary of Magdala.
“And why are you here in this garden, Mary ?”
“My Lord was buried here.”
“Where ?”
“In that tomb covered by the stone—but look, the stone has been moved ; I must run and tell Peter and John.”
Why Was The Stone Moved?
And away she goes, perplexed, troubled with grief that only love can know. Let us leave her for a while, and look at the stone. Yes, it no longer covers the mouth of the grave. Others may ask, “Who moved the stone ?” We will ask, “Why was the stone moved ?” Why is a door opened ? To permit ingress or egress. That is important to our story. A ghost does not need a door. And somehow, as we meditate, the garden does not feel cold any longer, the sun is rising in the east, another day has dawned.
But see, here comes Mary again, and she is no longer sad ; she appears excited.
“Why the change in your countenance, Mary ?”
“I have seen my Lord, and He has spoken to me.”
“Whatever do you mean ? You saw him die, you know where he is buried.”
“Where he was buried, you should say, for God has renewed His life, for he did not deserve that death. I thought he was the gardener, and asked where I could find His body, which was no longer in the cave. He simply said, ‘Mary’. The first word He uttered to a human being after he rose was spoken to me, Mary of Magdala, a woman whose past has been indescribably bad.”
‘And why were you so honoured ?”
“I do not know, unless it was because I kept so near to him at all times, both before and after his death. I was there when he died, and I was near when he rose from the dead.”
“And why did you keep so near to him, Mary ?”
“Just because I love him with my whole heart. I believe that, as I kept near to him in his death, so he will keep near to me in mine.”
Proof Indeed
Later, with the disciples, Jesus offered more practical proof that he was indeed the one who had walked with them only a few days previously. He showed his wounds in his hands and feet and side. They could have suspected themselves to be victims of hallucinations but methodically he removed all possibility of doubt.
“They were terrified and affrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit” (a phantom —a pneuma).
But Jesus assured them, “A phantom has not flesh and bones as you see I have”. So now we know why the stone was moved, to permit the exit of “flesh and bones” bearing a new life.
“Handle me and see”, He said. Touch is pretty conclusive, but even so, they “believed not yet and wondered”.
“Have you here any meat ?” was Jesus’ next request. And then he ate food before them. They knew the food was real, they had provided it, and it could not have been consumed by a mere vision. And, as always, He showed his wounds.
From that time the disciples ceased to be frightened men ; even death did not matter any more. One by one they accepted death willingly as the consequence of preaching the resurrection. Christianity spread and prospered, built on the confidence of the men who had seen the Risen Christ. If the resurrection had not really taken place, we would not be meeting together week by week, for there would have been no preachers, no gospel and no church. In love for us, Christ died. In love for him and us, God raised him from the dead.
Let us return to Mary in the garden. Jesus said to her, “Go to my brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’.”
Before such condescension as this, what shall we say ? Is any one more righteous than his brother ? The supreme virtue is love-agape (deep devotion), and we none of us know who amongst us has the deepest love for God, the love that will decide our destiny, no matter what knowledge we may acquire.
When Jesus was in Nain (a village of Galilee, as was Magdala), a woman of ill repute, who may well have been Mary herself, annointed his feet. Jesus said this of the woman, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much”. However virtuous we may feel, however knowledgable we may be, it still remains true that forgiveness will come in the wake of our love.
Mary means bitter, and Mary speaks as the bride of Christ when, in the bitterness of sin she cries to her Lord :
“Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, for I would be, ever, only,all for Thee.”
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay