Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18 (or Luke 24:1-12)
If you've ever watched an action film, you’ll know the basic plotline: Life is fine, bad guy turns up, hero saves the world, life is fine again. These stories always feature spectacular near misses. When everything is hopeless for the good guys, the hero arrives, dodges a bullet and saves the day.
The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection however, is not about an heroic near miss. Jesus doesn't dodge a bullet, he dies.
Jesus’ death is the end of a world, the end of a story. It is an ending that had to happen, in order to make way for the ‘new thing’ God had in store for Creation. (1 Corinthians 15:22) So in order to make space for the new life that God is gifting us in Jesus, we must be willing to let the old life die. Instead of near misses and last minute rescues, during Lent God calls us into surrender and obedience. It is a holy ‘letting go’, the end of life as we know it.
And this death is not without grief. We hear in Mary Magdalene’s words at the tomb that she has lost everything that mattered. “Why are you crying?” they ask her. “They have taken my Lord away...” (John 18:13-14)
Surrounded by her discarded dreams, she doesn't even know where to find God anymore. It is the end of her world. And it’s an ending that needs to happen for all of us too, an ending that Lent invites us to greet so that God’s new life might have room to grow in us.
And when we have let go of everything the bringer of life will come and find us, just like he found Mary in that garden, and nothing will ever be the same again.
Rev Malcolm Gordon
If you've ever watched an action film, you’ll know the basic plotline: Life is fine, bad guy turns up, hero saves the world, life is fine again. These stories always feature spectacular near misses. When everything is hopeless for the good guys, the hero arrives, dodges a bullet and saves the day.
The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection however, is not about an heroic near miss. Jesus doesn't dodge a bullet, he dies.
Jesus’ death is the end of a world, the end of a story. It is an ending that had to happen, in order to make way for the ‘new thing’ God had in store for Creation. (1 Corinthians 15:22) So in order to make space for the new life that God is gifting us in Jesus, we must be willing to let the old life die. Instead of near misses and last minute rescues, during Lent God calls us into surrender and obedience. It is a holy ‘letting go’, the end of life as we know it.
And this death is not without grief. We hear in Mary Magdalene’s words at the tomb that she has lost everything that mattered. “Why are you crying?” they ask her. “They have taken my Lord away...” (John 18:13-14)
Surrounded by her discarded dreams, she doesn't even know where to find God anymore. It is the end of her world. And it’s an ending that needs to happen for all of us too, an ending that Lent invites us to greet so that God’s new life might have room to grow in us.
And when we have let go of everything the bringer of life will come and find us, just like he found Mary in that garden, and nothing will ever be the same again.
Rev Malcolm Gordon
