The ancient story is retold each year throughout the world. On the first day of the week, the women went before dawn to the place where they laid his body. Arriving at the tomb, they found the stone rolled away. His body was gone.
Scholars tell us that the first recounting of this sacred story of the Christian tradition ends with the empty tomb. Only later were stories of appearances of the Resurrected Christ recorded. The oldest of the gospels, the Gospel of Mark, originally ended with chapter 16, verse 8: “Trembling and confused, the women left and fled the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.” What follows in the Bibles of today as the rest of chapter 16 was added decades later. (To learn more about this editing of Mark’s gospel, see: https://www.ibr-bbr.org/files/bbr/bbr18a04_stein.pdf)
The Gospel of Mark was written around 70 CE. That’s approximately forty years after the death of Jesus. More than two generations had passed. It was another twenty years before the writings of Matthew and Luke were compiled and perhaps forty years before the gospel attributed to John was constructed. The stories we consider sacred today evolved over time.
Today, we focus a great deal on the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection. We generally conclude that these stories are some sort of proof that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead. These sacred stories were some of the last pieces compiled in the New Testament. But I wonder: what was it like for the earliest of Christians to have a narrative that simply ended with the story of the empty tomb? Further, what does it mean for us to consider Easter from the perspective of Mark’s gospel as it was written — ending with the body of Jesus simply being gone?
The belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus was enshrined in the Nicene Creed in 325 CE. Even so, this dogma was debated throughout the early Church with fierce arguments well into the fifth century. Was there a physical resurrection? Is the resurrection of Jesus a spiritual reality to be experienced by followers? Or as some ask today, is it a metaphor?
I contend that a mature faith results from asking questions and digging deeper into the beliefs we inherit. Dogma is of little value in itself. Faith takes on meaning for our lives when we question and push to achieve an understanding that provides a sense of meaning for our lives. I am not concerned whether the story of the women simply finding an empty tomb is correct. Nor am I concerned whether the various accounts of the disciples encountering the resurrected Jesus are factual. Whether the resurrection of Jesus is factual or metaphor makes no difference to my faith today as a Christian. Ultimately, I find that the narratives of the life and teachings of Jesus are both a source of inspiration and spiritual grounding for my life.
Anyone who reads the four accounts of the resurrection of Jesus found in the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John can recognize, there are contradictions among the stories. There’s no agreement on who was there and what occurred. Such contradictions don’t bother me in the least. I find them interesting because the writers of each narrative make different observations through the stories presented. For me, what happened isn’t important. What matters is this: throughout my life and even today, I have found insight, wisdom, strength, moral guidance, hope, and connection with myself and others through the narratives I’ve inherited about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Whether the stories are fact, fiction, or metaphor, what’s true is that the teachings of Jesus are life-giving for me today. In that, I can say: Indeed, Christ is risen! Alleluia! From this perspective, I invite others to consider that the resurrection of Jesus isn’t essentially a dogma to be believed. Instead, the resurrection of Jesus is an affirmation of life’s ongoing goodness which is renewed again and again by the telling and living of the ancient stories. Happy Easter!
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