The Gospel Lesson for Easter Sunday ends with the abrupt words, "So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."
These are cetainly not the expected words that mark the event of Jesus' resurrection. The other gospel accounts record that they were afraid, but that they spread the word out of shear excitement. What do you think was behind Mark's record of their silence?
It is clear from history that they didn't remain quiet. Here we are 2000 years after the fact celebrating the excitement of the resurrection from the dead. Obviously they didn't remain quiet. How do we end up treating the message of the Lord's resurrection? What kind of fear keeps us from sharing the good news with those of our generation? The Christians of Mark's era were facing persecutions that cost them their lives. Is pursecution still behind our silence?
2 comments:
I think that the fear of passing the good news is being afraid of coming off as a religious fanatic. I don't think that people can understand the joy you feel when you try to share the good news. They just don't understand how you can be so eager in wanting to share something that happened so long ago and how you can be so happy about and want to share that joy with others.
I am very sure that the disciples were understood to be fanatical in every generation. I also know that it is uncomfortable. The important element in speaking is always to be speaking about not only what has happened a long time ago, but to be far more contemporary. What has Jesus done for you lately? That's the question to be put out there. That's where the "rubber his the road" so to speak. God is at work today in the lives of all the saints. Letting people know about what God is doing now is the good news for our generation.
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