And the first witnesses to that event are filled with an overwhelming sense of terror, too afraid even to speak. They run swiftly and silently out of the tomb. This isn't what we expect to hear in the Easter story. We wear our new Easter outfits. Before the service the narthex buzzes with the greeting of old friends.
Easter means joy, hope, happiness.
But on that first Easter day the gospel of Mark describes a scene of overpowering fear and amazement. In fact, this is probably where Mark ended his gospel. The rest of Mark that we have in our Bibles comes from what appears to be later manuscripts, additions to the gospel perhaps because persons reading his gospel thought more needed to be added to make for a more appropriate ending, more similar to the other gospels. Amid the Easter bunnies at the mall and the pretty decorated eggs and pretty yellows, greens and lavenders, we have lost that sense of mind-boggling awe that I think must accompany the raising up of a dead man. We have lost the awe that comes from seeing God, the Creator of the universe, stepping into this world of ours and giving life to a man put to death on a cross.