Readings: Matthew 28: 16-20 and Acts 2: 14a and 22-32
My sermon today is about the Resurrection as is suitable for
the first Sunday after Easter and hopefully it will be relevant to the strange
situation we all find ourselves in. I will also say something about Jesus’ last
words to his disciples as recorded in our reading from Matthew’s Gospel and how
these were acted upon by Peter in our reading from Acts.
But first: resurrection.
I want to share with you
something that has particularly struck me about resurrection this Easter and to
reflect on how that relates to our current situation. The thing that has struck me is how closely
connected are the crucifixion and the resurrection. Somehow we have got into the habit of seeing
them as separate events: perhaps because we celebrate them on different days, but
in reality they are so interconnected as to be almost one and the same thing.
And this has been impressed upon me by some of the pictures
I found to illustrate my reflection on the Stations of the Cross which was
first streamed on Good Friday from this Facebook page. But also by some of the pictures I have been
looking at, for a possible reflection on the Stations of the Resurrection, on
which perhaps more anon. I am struck by the
way some pictures of the crucifixion are very similar to pictures of the
resurrection.
The two pictures I chose to illustrate the tenth station of
my Good Friday Reflection are these [x]
The picture on the left is by Emil Nolde and painted around 1912. The painting on the right is by Antonello da
Messina painted in about 1500 [x]
The painting by Nolde depicts the crucifixion as recounted
by Matthew, Mark and Luke, the painting by Antonello depicts the crucifixion as
recounted by John. How do I know that? Well Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that the
sky went dark when Jesus finally died on the cross and Nolde has a dark background. John makes no mention of darkness and Antonello’s’
sky is the clearest blue.
For another thing John tells us that the John the disciple,
the disciple that Jesus loved as he describes him, stood at the foot of the
cross, together with Mary, Jesus’ mother, and some other women. In Antonello’s painting you can see John
and Mary sitting at the foot of the cross and three women approaching from a
distance: you can just see them coming over the small hill behind the
cross.
Matthew, Mark and Luke make no mention of John or Mary
the mother of Jesus but they do say that there were other women disciples standing
there. In Nolde’s painting you can see
that there are three women standing on the left.
But one of the most striking differences between the two paintings
is the height of the cross. In
Nolde’s painting Jesus is crucified with his feel just off the ground. In Antonello’s painting it is almost as if Jesus
is half-way to Heaven already.
Nolde’s painting is in the grand tradition of paintings that
focus on the suffering of Jesus and the distress of the onlookers who are his
friends or family. Just one more picture
[x] to illustrate this tradition: Picasso’s picture of the crucifixion. Here you can see Jesus on the cross against a
black patch of sky, a smirking person on the right – presumably not a disciple
– and two figures - one to the left and one at the base of the cross – in
extreme grief. The figure on the left is
male and is presumably John, the other figure is female and is presumably Mary
the mother of Jesus. I think this
picture powerfully evokes the suffering of the crucifixion. But it seems to miss the point that that
suffering was for a purpose.
In Antonello’s painting Mary and John, quite frankly,
don’t look that distressed. John in
particular, seems to be gazing at Jesus in wonder.
Now all four gospels emphasize the suffering of the
crucifixion. There is absolutely no
doubt that this was a horrible way of dying.
But in John’s gospel Jesus is in control of what is happening to him –
even at his arrest and right up to his death.
The last words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew are ‘My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me’. The last words of
Jesus as recorded by John are ‘It is finished’.
In the first half of John’s gospel Jesus says three times
that he must be lifted up when he comes to die.
The third time he says this is in Chapter 12 verse 32. Here he says ‘And when I am lifted up from
the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.’
In saying this Jesus is clearly referring to his crucifixion but perhaps
also his resurrection and ascension.
Jesus in his final discourse with, and prayers for, his
disciples at the Last Supper talks about the glory of his final hours. He prays (in Chapter 17 verse 1) ‘Father the
hour has come: glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you’. We are used to thinking of the resurrection
as somehow glorious but here Jesus is not just speaking of his resurrection but
his crucifixion as well.
So perhaps it is not surprising that some artists portray
the crucifixion as both a raising up and glorious – just as the resurrection is
both a raising up and glorious. Here is
a picture of the crucifixion by Raphael [x] and here is his picture of the
Resurrection [x].Raphael has even moved
the two angels that are described by Luke as being present at the tomb early on
Easter morning from his resurrection scene to his crucifixion scene.
Now we might prefer the crucifixion scene as portrayed by
Nolde or Picasso as being somehow more realistic. But Antonello and Raphael also show us
something real: God’s ability to transform suffering, in order to defeat
it. In their paintings there are still
nails and blood but there is also ‘glory’.
Now I think this close connection between the crucifixion
and the resurrection, between suffering and its transformation in the story of
Jesus, is related to the situation we find ourselves in today. The realisation of the connections should help
us to develop a clearer perspective on the suffering caused by the virus and its
meaning. I think many of us are
searching for a clearer perspective on the pandemic. And there are lots of Christians happy to
venture their take. I suppose they/we
must try. I hesitate to do so.
Some of the Christians perspectives you can read or hear are
simply wrong. In particular the view
that the pandemic is God’s judgement on us as if it was one of the seven
plagues contained within the ‘seven bowls of the wrath of God’ as described in
Revelation Chapters 15 and 16.
A more nuanced view, along the same sort of line, is that
the emergence and spread of the virus is a consequence of our broken
relationships with the natural environment.
As two Christian writers put it and I quote: ‘God’s original intention was peace between
all things – but this is not how we’re living. He created a world in which
everything is connected, and there are natural consequences when those
connections are broken.’ Here the
implication is that we have broken those connection so the pandemic is our
fault and now we see the consequences.
This, to me, doesn’t seem a million miles away from the pandemic as
judgement idea.
Then there is the view that the pandemic is an opportunity. At the extreme the idea here is that we
Christians should take this opportunity to demonstrate that we are not afraid
of death – even to the point of meeting together physically to worship, in
contravention of public health advice – or the law in this country.
A more subtle take on the pandemic as opportunity is that we
as a church should, in this situation, be a brighter ‘light of the world’, demonstrate
more clearly our compassion for the troubled in body, mind or spirit and be
even more ‘prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason
for the hope that we have’[1]. I am
somewhat suspicious of this version pandemic as opportunity idea. Shouldn’t we have been doing all these things
before?
Without wishing to minimise the suffering caused by the
corona virus I do think there is plus side to the pandemic, if only to make us,
Christians and non-Christians alike, think more about how we should be leading
our lives. But, more importantly I think,
a first step in developing a truly Christian perspective on the virus, would to
be as humble and open as possible. But also
to recognise the mystery: the mystery that God, while powerless to eliminate
suffering, can transform it.
As with our review of pictures of the crucifixion we can see
the pandemic in contrasting ways and in that connection it might be worth
asking ourselves whether this is a time of crucifixion or of resurrection or of
both. The suffering of the crucifixion
is transformed by the resurrection and this is surely also true of the
pandemic. From one perspective it can be
viewed as a crisis but it also can be seen in a different light just as
Antonello and Raphael could see the crucifixion.
So finally to our readings today. The first was from Matthew’s Gospel and
records his version of Jesus’ last resurrection appearance, his last words to his
disciples and his Ascension into Heaven.
A third lifting up if you like. In his parting words to his friends Jesus
commands them to: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you’. The disciples follow this command and Luke
gives us an example in Peter’s sermon to the people, from all nation, gathered in Jerusalem to
celebrate Pentecost. In this sermon Peter
gives his hearers the good news about the resurrection which is why it is the
lectionary reading for this the second Sunday of Easter. The good news that Jesus’s resurrection
transforms suffering, gives it meaning, if not purpose, is surely as relevant
today as ever.
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