The Stone is Rolled Away

Easter 2021 " And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back-it was very large." Mk. 16:4 The very first miracle of Easter morning, Before the discovery of the empty tomb... Before any comforting words spoken by angels... Before Peter discovers the folded linens... Before the tearful encounter between Jesus and Mary... Before the appearance of the Resurrected Jesus to his disciples... The very first miracle of Easter morning is the stone rolled away from the tomb. That may appear to be the least of the Easter miracles, but it was the first sign that something momentous had happened. A rolled away stone may not count for much in itself in light of all that followed, but consider its import. If the stone hadn't been rolled back, if Jesus had simply walked through the stone, just as he walked through the locked door into the room with the disciples later that night, would Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome have made their Easter discovery? No, they wouldn't. They would have returned home disappointed and dejected that their mission to anoint the body of Jesus was a failure. The resurrection did happen. Jesus overcame the grave. But for the rolled away stone it would be someone else's discovery, someone else's story to tell. The rolled away stone begs us to consider what stones are in our own lives. On this early Easter morning, stones are moving, cast aside. Opening pathways for the resurrected Jesus to enter into our world. Isaiah sat himself down on a mountain to consider the view stretching out before him. He saw stones as a veil covering up the Glory of God. But he didn't see the stones as they appeared. He saw them as they would be after God moved them. "And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations." Then would come the promised feast day. "On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined." Isaiah acknowledged the veil but at the same time saw the miracle waiting behind it. His message, and the message confirmed at Easter, is this: the stone is gone, partake of the feast. One person's miracle is another person's mundane routine existence. Why is it that some people woke this morning to the joy of the Resurrection? Why did some hearts burst for gladness that today Jesus is Risen, the Lord is Risen Indeed?" While others woke to the same doldrums they faced yesterday, the same problems, the same hopelessness? For the joyous, the stone is rolled away and for the others, it is still there, huge and unmoving. When we look closely at Mark's Easter story, the rolled away stone is not only the first miracle witnessed that Easter morning, it's the only one. The women never meet the Resurrected Jesus. They meet only a young man dressed in white. Not an angel, a young man. His appearance and his story leaves them trembling and afraid. None of it makes sense to them and yet the stone was rolled away. The tomb is empty. For them, the Easter feast is still somewhere beyond their imagination. They do not know what it all means or what it signifies, but the air is alive with the possibility of a miracle. Amazement, astonishment, sometimes fear and terror, sometimes inexpressible joy. These are the reactions we find throughout the Gospel of Mark when some particular stone is rolled away and people get a glimpse of God's glory in the person of Jesus Christ. God does not change. Jesus doesn't pick his moments when he's visible and then go invisible. Those who see him do so because they've opened their eyes to him. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome look up before they see the stone rolled away. That is significant. They've been walking with their heads lowered, overcome by their grief and the hopelessness of the last three days, and then they look up. The stone is rolled away. The impediment to the impossible is gone. All things are possible because the stone is rolled away and because they see it. Everywhere today people are ready for a miracle. It has been such a long, difficult struggle. The cost is so high. The price paid so dear. Loss of friends and family. Loss of jobs and purposeful living. A growing and deadly dependency on drugs. Human trafficking. Every day we hear of another threat to our national security and another challenge to our mental and physical health. Neighborliness is replaced by suspicion and all too often gunfire and death. We need a miracle. We pray for a miracle. Christians plead with God for a revival in our country. Another great and greater yet awakening. But do we lift up our eyes to see the miracle already in our midst? Jesus lives. The Resurrected Christ is the sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. All history points to the cross and the empty tomb as the one and only act needed to redeem creation. The Resurrection happened once and for all time but is that where we are looking? Or have we let the world roll back the stone in front of the empty tomb? Have we lost faith in the one resurrection that happened and cry out for another one, a better one? One that will at last catch on with a stubborn and rebellious people? That cry speaks only of our unbelief. The frightened and confused women at the tomb didn't know where to turn. But the young man they met there gave them what they needed. He said to them, "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him." Seek Jesus. Don't worry about what you don't know or can't understand. Do not be troubled by your imperfect incomplete knowledge. Do not let the magnitude of the world's troubles blind you to what you see with your own eyes. The fullness of the miracle awaits. They will yet see Jesus and witness his ascension. But for now a rolled away stone and empty tomb are miracle enough. Enough even to serve as a witness to the resurrection. "But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." My friends, on this Easter morning, look up and see that the stone is indeed rolled away. The tomb is open and empty. The miracle that we seek is present with us in the resurrected Jesus. Alleluia, Christ is Risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.