There aren’t many things that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all felt compelled to include in their Gospels. They all include his death and resurrection, but only Matthew and Luke mention his birth! All four mention the feeding of the 5000, but the temptation of Jesus doesn’t make the cut in all four. The reality is that there were too many moments worth mentioning, and each of the four chose according to what he was trying to communicate about Jesus to a particular audience. Each Gospel presents Jesus from a different angle, and together, we receive a rich and multi-faceted portrayal. It is actually a good thing that the four Gospels are different!
That is why it is so surprising that all four Gospels mention the fact that the women who followed Jesus were the first witnesses to the resurrection. We rightly should ask, “Why did this fact matter so much to the four evangelists that they all decided to mention it?”
There are a variety of answers to this question. First, it confirms something that is already present in the Gospel accounts—Jesus receives women as disciples. We take this for granted, but other rabbis didn’t do this at the time. Second, it demonstrates something Jesus said a number of times using the example of children and servants, something that his male disciples struggled to grasp—Jesus is committed to working through the humble and meek. Women simply didn’t have the social status of men, and it is like Jesus is proving a point at the resurrection. Those with low social status (whether men or women, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, child or adult) are often used by Jesus to confound the expectations and pride of the world. (Paul develops this theologically in I Cor. 1:18-31.)
But there is another answer that is remarkable: This simple fact provides phenomenal evidence for the fact that the resurrection of Jesus truly happened. Women weren’t considered credible witnesses, and their testimony was rarely admissible in court. If the Gospel writers were manufacturing a story, the last people they would choose as “witnesses” to their fabrication would be women, because the average person would immediately dismiss the evidence. The only reason to include women as the first witnesses is because that is actually what occurred.
The modern world might still view this with skepticism, but the ancient world wouldn’t have missed it. Having women be the first to hear the news—in all four Gospels—is either the biggest blunder the co-conspirators could make, or it is actually the truth.
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
John 11:5-6 is remarkable, and yet totally perplexing: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
Both Martha and Mary say to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus was capable of preventing Lazarus’ death—the sisters knew it!—but because of his love for them, Jesus stayed away. Out of love, he hid himself from them in their time of need.
If you have ever been at a point of need—physically, emotionally, relationally—and felt that God seemed absent in that moment, you can understand the grief and frustration of Martha and Mary. His absence is hard to understand, and the claim that it might be out of love seems non-sensical. Love (to us) means that he would show up and do something! And yet, out of love, he sometimes seems to hide himself.
Jesus makes it clear why he did this. He said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” His absence was on purpose, out of love, because he had a greater glory to reveal to them, the sort of glory that only comes on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death.
Paul was given this greater glory, as well. Throughout II Corinthians he testifies that the comfort, grace, and power of God can only be seen on the far side of suffering, weakness, and the silence of God. Very simply, our short-sighted vision has to be extinguished in order for us to see the greater glory that God desires to give us.
The rest of Paul’s testimony in II Corinthians is helpful, because it also guards us from slipping into the belief that we will necessarily be given a reason for a particular suffering or the belief that all suffering will be removed in this life. Our hope—the vision of glory—is in “God who raises the dead” (II Cor. 1:9), not a god who promises to keep us from death. God’s sufficient presence, comfort, grace, and power are promised, even if we don’t understand everything we are facing.
If you find yourself confronted with the seeming absence of God in a moment of darkness, do not assume that it means that God is not there or that he does not love you. Instead, wait with fervent expectation for the glorious God who raises the dead.
Steven+
Holy Week
“For the average American Christian who is genuinely committed to his or her faith, the most a church can expect is 3 hours of participation each week.”
Before Incarnation opened its doors, I received this warning from a priest who reads surveys on church life and growth. Don’t ask me to cite the study (I don’t have it!), but the claim seems right. Sunday morning Eucharist, small group, Bible study—life is busy and most of us can only make two of the three. Anything more endangers the balance on the scale and only dilutes participation at the rest. So why in the world do we add three extra services (plus a picnic) during Holy Week?!!
The answer is simple: Our only hope is Jesus Christ, and we need a moment every year when we stop everything to remember and rehearse that.
We spend hundreds of hours every year making money, cooking meals, cleaning the home, going on vacation, watching TV, going to our kids’ activities, answering emails, studying for school—the list of what consumes our time is large. But our only hope is in Jesus; nothing else (even the good and necessary things) truly offers life. He alone is a secure foundation.
We need a yearly moment when we rehearse and re-enter this hope and foundation. We aren’t computers, where information can just be downloaded and then it remains there perpetually. We are living creatures with affections, wills, and minds, and creatures have to practice and celebrate things regularly if they want them engrained in their hearts. Our practices and habits shape our souls more than we know.
During Holy Week, we are given the chance to re-center our life on Christ in an explicit way. It is our yearly call to grow in the faith in the only way our faith can actually grow—through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The services work together to draw us into Jesus’ death and resurrection. Each service is beautiful on its own, but together they are more than their sum. By following him from the Triumphal Entry to the Last Supper; from his agony, betrayal, and arrest at Gethsemane to the mockery of his trial; from the darkness of his crucifixion into the glory of his resurrection—by following him in each of these moments, we have the chance to re-center our life on him.
Even though life is busy, make a point to set aside every other pursuit during Holy Week. There is nothing more important for us to do! Let following Jesus from the Triumphal Entry to the empty tomb be the only goal for the week.
Steven+