The empty tomb

Haiku of surprise

Mark gives us terror,

confusion, with the women

fleeing from the tomb.

Mary Magdalene,

much maligned, was there for him,

in life and in death.

The first day, early,

both Marys and Salome

went to anoint him.

We have the spices,

but who will remove the stone

that we may enter?

They came to the tomb;

the stone had been rolled away.

A man in white spoke.

No need for alarm!

You seek Jesus who was killed;

he’s not here, he lives!

Tell his disciples,

Peter too; they will find him

there, in Galilee.

They were terrified,

the women. They fled the scene

and spoke to no one.

© Ken Rookes 2024

Sacred beauty, flower power and a different sort of courage

“During the Vietnam War days, at the height of the protest movement against it, a rally was held  [in Australia] to discuss strategies. The hall was packed with people who regarded themselves as the leading social activists of their day. Grim analyses were delivered of the situation in Vietnam, several leaders proposed tough action to challenge the Australian government amid murmurs of approval. Then a brave man rose and suggested that we buy hundreds of baskets of flowers and hand them out in the streets as a sign of a peace which had not yet come. There was a stunned silence. This is not what peace activists did – hand out flowers? Come on! The money for flowers would be better used to help people in Vietnam. As a minor member of the movement there, I felt deep in my heart that flowers would be a great sign of a sort of grace, something beyond grim activism. I didn’t say so be-cause I lacked the courage. Many years on, I associate those flowers with a Christ who invites the spreading of perfume over the world, the entry into and the connec-tion with a sacred beauty as well as money for the poor.”   Ian Price from Words for Worship 2001, 

Mary Magdalene marble

Mary Magdalene coloring

http://www.sundayschoolresources.com/images/cpp2anoint.gif

In the week of international women's day ....

"At Cana, the divine excess was for a wedding celebration. At Bethany, Mary's extravagance foretold of an imminent death.

           If the suspiciously similar-but-different story in Luke 7:36–50 describes the same event, the anointing of Jesus by a woman is one of the rare stories that's told in all four gospels. It was a powerful memory for the earliest believers. Jesus says her act was so singular that from that time forth, "wherever this gospel is preached, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

           And how's this for unintended irony — Matthew and Mark never name this person; they simply call her "a woman." Luke describes her as "a sinful woman." There's a long history of identifying the woman as Mary Magdalene, although the gospels never say this. John alone tells us that it was Mary, the sibling of Martha and Lazarus.

Jesus anointed at Bethany, by James Woodward.

           What is the Spirit of God saying in this story of wild excess during the Lenten season of self-denial?"

http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20130311JJ.shtml

Many things at once.

A jewel that invites us to view many facets of living. 
Here is Jesus as the receiver of care and love, 
and here is a woman of passion 
and a sensual image and action.
a woman unacceptable in so many ways,
and yet the right one. 
Here is the righteous condemnation, 
the cry for justice and equality; 
(in some ways quite reasonable.)
The moral bitterness, maybe jealousy?
But,
at the heart of it all.
Here is the God/man 
who knows his vulnerability 
and his mortality 
and his need/desire for love.
and the power of the salve of tears.
(GJB)