Lo Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb
THIne be the glory
Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom
In the period from Easter to Pentecost Tom Wright suggests that it is a good time to find something to take up – much as during Lent we are supposed to find something to abstain from. So I want to take up writing again. To start with I want to listen to the words of the risen Christ that we have recorded in the gospels.
We will start with Matthew’s gospel. Matthew begins with the account of the women going to the tomb and finding it empty except for two angels who tell them that Jesus is risen. As they leave to tell the disciples Matthew records this account.
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:8-10
Before we listen to Jesus’s words we need to notice who they are spoken to. Jesus appears first to the women. It has often been noted that this adds to the authenticity of these accounts. No one in the 1st century would have regarded women as reliable witnesses. That the gospels record this can only be because it actually happened.
But having noted this reality we also need to ponder the significance. Jesus did this deliberately, and not simply as a useful extra piece of evidence for people trying to make a case for the resurrection. Jesus goes first to the women. The women were the last to leave him, and now they are the first to see and hear him. Jesus honours them and their devotion. He doesn’t minimise their loyalty and love. He does not belittle their worship.
Instead he meets them and reassures them. Do not be afraid. So far, so obvious – they are frightened and need reassurance. But he does not stop there. He tells them to tell his disciples to go to Galilee where he will be seen by them. The women are treated with respect, and they are given the task of proclaiming jesus’ words to his disciples. They are the first witnesses and the first messengers.
The risen Christ does not ‘need’ to do this. He can just walk through walls. He can tell the disciples himself. But here he chooses to let the women tell the disciples. Jesus views them as partners in his mission. Jesus does not see them as second class.
The question is will the disciples believe the women? Based on how other gospels fill in the accounts it seems not. Yet Jesus chooses to go to the women first. So, as a man, this rebukes all those conversations I have ever witnessed and failed to intervene in where women have been belittled explicitly or implicitly. Sadly more of those conversations have taken place in church contexts than outside it in my experience.
I’m glad to work for an organisation that trains women to preach and that publishes books by women preachers and scholars. I’m sad when organisations elevate a principle of male only leadership to the same level as the gospel.
But that gladness and sadness are useless if in my own life I don’t treat women as equals, and if I don’t teach my sons that they are to treat women as equals. The devastating reality is that in terms of abuse and lack of living by Jesus’ teachings churches that declare they believe women are equal partners in ministry can just as easily fall short of treating women with respect and care in actual practice. Conversely a church that holds to the principle of male leadership can treat women as fully human if they listen and learn from Jesus about listening and involving with respect. So as a man, whatever my theological convictions on the precise nature of ministries open to men and women, I need to listen and learn from Jesus and his utter respect and care for women.
And then notice how Jesus refers to his disciples. Brothers. These people who let him down, one of whom denied him. They are brothers. Part of the same family. Hebrews 2 describes how Jesus died to be firstborn among many brothers – and crucially how he is not ashamed to call those who trust him brothers.
It isn’t just Peter, John, James and the others who Jesus calls brothers – it is us too, it is all believers. And he doesn’t do that reluctantly. He is not ashamed. It is easy to be ashamed of others – and easier to be ashamed of ourselves. But Jesus is not ashamed of me, and he’s not ashamed of you.
These brothers are called to go back to Galilee, back to where it all began, where Jesus will meet with them once more. According to Luke the final ascension of Jesus takes place at the Mount of Olives, outside Jerusalem, so after Easter Sunday they, after some time, are to head back to Galilee, and will then come back to Jerusalem.
So why does Jesus need to go back to Galilee? Why do his disciples need to meet him there? We can only guess, but maybe it is because they need to go back to the place where it all started to experience the risen Christ anew. The end of John’s gospel has to happen (John 21) and the obvious place for that is the shore of Galilee where the disciples were first called. Perhaps too there are those in Galilee who Jesus wants to have the chance to see him risen. Maybe this is where the appearance to 500 (1 Cor 15) at once can happen out of the way of the Jerusalem crowds?
Most fundamentally perhaps for Matthew, Galilee is where Jesus called the disciples, and so it is an appropriate place for him to commission them to the next stage of his ministry. Here they left their nets to follow him. Here he will explain what it means to carry out his ministry in the world. The next post will explore his “great commission” to the disciples.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 