He Is Risen
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my LORD, and I know not where they have laid him.
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Happy Easter.
posted by Joshua @ 11:02 AM
2 Comments:
Two related thoughts:
1) I've always found the vilification of Judas, and in fact everyone involved in Jesus' death (crazies who claim "the Jews killed our lord"). Doesn't pretty much all of Christianity flow from Jesus’ sacrifice, death, and rebirth, and if so, wasn't his betrayal and execution a necessary prerequisite for the entire religion? Usually the people who seem actually offended by Judas and the crowd (and Pilate) are the same one's who will tell you that "God has a plan for you", insisting that things turn out the way God intended. Well, it is made abundantly clear in the Bible that Jesus was going to make the sacrifice (he knew in the garden beforehand), so why is there this blame associated with all the other people playing their parts in the course of events that is portrayed as essentially predestined?
2) "but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God"
Seems to me to be driving home what I think is the main point of Christianity, which is to emphasize that everyone is, in one important way, of equal value. Jesus was a man, hence, "my brethren" and he speaks as though his relation to God is the same as everyone else's. In that sense, his sacrifice is symbolic of the sort of selflessness that anyone could be called on to exhibit in pursuit of a moral/godly/righteous (pick your favorite adjective depending on your moral/religious orientation) life. Believing that your life, no matter what your station is no more or less valuable than any other person's life paves the way for the sort of selfless acts and cooperation that is essential for human society to succeed and endure.
I think most religions, and many non religious moral philosophies get at this point from different angles (as do many of our discussions on morality here). It has been suggested numerous times on this blog that the root of what we call sin is a failure to realize that one is not the center of the universe.
Anyway, happy belated Easter to all the Christians, and happy Cadbury's Cream Egg eating to everyone!
Also, happy belated passover to our Jewish readers.
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