Verses 19 and 20 may have been a litany that the pilgrims sang as they drew near to Jerusalem. Pilgrims: "Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord." From the temple heights the priests answered: "This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it."

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." This passage is used in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in Acts, and in First Peter. As builders build an arch, they select one stone to place in the height of the arch to hold both sides upright. They choose this stone carefully. Some stones are considered, then put aside as not the right size or strength or shape to do the job. One such stone one day was laid aside, and then the builders found that no other stone could do the job. So they went back to that one and positioned it into the most crucial spot on the arch. So with Jesus, said the New Testament writers. He was carelessly cast aside and put on a cross. But God had chosen him to be at the heart of the most crucial place in human life and has set him there, a stone rejected that is now the chief cornerstone.

"This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Many a martyr has sung these words as the skies lightened and the sun rose on the day of their execution. Jesus sang these words on the last night of his life. These lines are from the song prescribed for everyone who has eaten a passover meal. These were the words sung after Jesus' last meal with his disciples, as they left the room of the supper and set out for the Garden of Gethsemane.

We can close our exposition of this psalm with the words that opened it: "O give thanks to the Lord. For God is good. God's steadfast love endures forever."

First Corinthians 15:1-11: The bedrock fact of the Christian faith and the Christian church is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul was certain of this. Without the resurrection, there would be no faith and no church. "If Christ has not been raised," wrote Paul in the 15^th chapter of his first letter to the church in Corinth, "your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Those who have died in Christ have perished. If in this life we have only hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have died."

For support of this statement, Paul quoted a creed of the earliest church. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

We need to look at this statement in great detail.

Paul begins by saying it is something that he had "received and then delivered" to the Corinthians. This was the way important information was transmitted in those days. The information in question was formulated by official persons. It was "received" by others, that is, accepted by someone else in the form in which it was quoted, and it was committed to memory by the person or persons who received it. It was then "delivered" to others, so that they could know it also. This creed in 15:3-8 is of that kind, an official formulation. It was conceived, received, and delivered in the official manner of all authoritative teaching in Jewish and Christian circles.

This is probably an Aramaic statement which Paul, or someone else, had translated into Greek. This is important. It was probably worked out in the church in Jerusalem for which Aramaic was the working language. Its repetitive structure underlies its creed-like nature. It was cast in such form that it could easily be remembered. Its uniqueness is enhanced when we recall that no where else in his writings did Paul use the word "twelve." What the statement includes and what it leaves out tells us that this was an official formulation of the early church.

This is what I received, said Paul:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture;

that he was buried;

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scripture.

Note that two of the three parts say that Christ's action was "in accordance with scripture." Christ had died, but the nature of Christ's death by crucifixion is not at stake in this statement. What is important is that his death was for our sins and was "in accordance with scripture." Scripture had said that forgiveness would come through one who suffered over our sins as God suffers over our sins. Well, Christ had done that. All kinds of sins had put Christ on the cross: the sins of denial, betrayal, desertion, of brutality and arrogance and insensitivity. He was indeed the "suffering servant of God," of whom Isaiah had written in scripture, who came to bear the sins of many.

He was raised on the third day "in accordance with scripture." Hosea had said (6:2) "After two days he will revive us; and on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him." And had not Jonah lived three days in the belly of the whale before he was regurgitated to a new life? By our rules of reasoning, we would call this a stretch of the imagination. The early members of the church did not. It was written down in scripture, and, according to the rules of debate in that day, that is all that was necessary.

Note that the burial was not "according to Scripture." Burial in the case of a criminal, which Jesus was in the eyes of Roman and Jewish law, was illegal. The bodies of crucified criminals were simply cut down, hauled out of the city, and dumped onto the garbage heap. But those Christians who first wrote the creed remembered what Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had done, and they honored it in their statement.

These three statements were part of the first creed about Jesus and his resurrection. They have remained part of our Apostles Creed: "crucified, dead, and buried, . . . on the third day rose again from the dead."

In the account in Corinthians Jesus' appearances are then listed:

First to Cephas (Peter),

then to the twelve,

then to more than 500 brethren,

then to James,

then to all the apostles,

last of all to Paul.

We know that there were more appearances of Jesus than these. What about the young man at the tomb in Mark 16? Had he not seen the Lord? How about the women, Mary Magdalene and the others? Had they not seen the Lord? How could the claim be made that Peter was the first to see him? Mary had reported to Peter and to John that Jesus had risen. What about the two disciples on the way to Emmaus? How about Stephen? Had he not, at the moment of his martyrdom, looked into the heavens and seen the Son of Humankind seated at the right hand of God? Clearly not all the appearances of the risen Lord are contained in this list.

Why not? The best answer is that this is not an exclusive listing of those to whom Christ had appeared. It is rather a listing of the major movements in the early church and the leader of each movement. Three major groups emerged from the days of crucifixion and resurrection to carry on the work of Jesus. They were the Twelve, the Brethren, and the Apostles. The Twelve were Galileans, and they were directed to return to Galilee for their mission. The Brethren were Jewish-Christians primarily centered around Jerusalem. They worshiped in Hebrew, read the scripture in Hebrew, carried on their daily lives in Aramaic or Hebrew. They were commissioned to persuade like-minded Jewish people that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ for whom all had been waiting. The third group were the apostles who were to go to gentile lands and bring gentiles and Greek-speaking Jewish people into the church of Jesus Christ. Each of these groups claimed that the risen Christ had come to them after his death and had authorized them to carry out ministry in his name and spirit.

Each group had a leader. Peter was the leader of the Twelve, James the leader of the Brethren, Paul the leader of the Apostles. When this historic background to the creed is considered, its organization becomes much clearer. Christ appeared, in chronological order:

First to Peter, and then to the twelve;

then to 500 brethren, and then to James;

then to all the apostles, and finally to Paul.

By putting them together in this manner, each leader and each group was authenticated as valid enterprises within the whole Christian movement.

I have no idea how much struggle went into the composition of this creed. No one sat down at a desk and wrote it out, that I know. The movements within the church were at odds with each other over many things. They disagreed on synagogue worship and temple worship, on whether they should read the Hebrew Scripture or the Greek Septuagint, on how they should relate to the society around them, on whether all Christians should be circumcised, on what food they should eat, even on how they should eat the Lord's Supper. The Hebrew-speaking Christians of Jerusalem were so opposed to what the Greek-speaking Christians of Jerusalem advocated that they stood by while a man like Stephen was stoned. How they worked out their differences we can only guess. But work them out they did. Even while they disagreed heartily with each other, they recognized the validity of each others' ministries, and they declared that the same Jesus Christ who had appeared to Peter and the twelve had also appeared to James and the brethren and to Paul and the apostles. This statement which Paul quoted to the Corinthians stands as a monument to their ability to compromise and reconcile.

Paul's self-designation for himself leaps out at us from this creed. He called himself the "ektroma." The word may mean "abortion," one who was born before his time, "untimely born." It may mean that for a long time he had refused the mission to which God had called him. He says of himself that "God had set him apart before his birth" (Gal 1:15), but, instead of following that call he had "persecuted the church of God." It may even refer to his appearance. The word can also mean "ugly monstrosity, dwarf." Whatever it means in this passage, it points to something of which Paul was not proud but which he was willing to accept "because of the grace of God given to him." Paul had been in a most deplorable situation, but nevertheless he had been appointed by God to be Christ's apostle.

Paul called this "the grace of God toward him." Clarence Tucker Craig, of Yale, pointed out that up to now in the letter to the Corinthians Paul had used "grace" only three times. Now he used it three times in this one verse, and with good reason. Paul had been changed from "dwarf" to "apostle," from one monstrously borne to one carrying out the call of God. Paul was himself the new creation that had been promised in Christ. But receiving this "grace" did not make Paul a passive person. Indeed, he said, "because of this grace I worked harder than any of them, though it was not myself doing it but the grace of God that is working in me (15:11)."

For Christ had "appeared" to Paul, as he had "appeared" to the others. The word "appeared," said H. G. Bartsch (NTStud 26 [2 80] 180-196), was used in the historical books of the Septuagint for the appearance of God, or his angel, or his glory. These appearances were confined to the three great Old Testament epochs of salvation, that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of Moses and Israel in the wilderness; and of David and Solomon. In the same scriptures, Isaiah had said, "I saw the Lord," and Jeremiah had added, "The Lord appeared of old unto me." Paul replied, "Have not I seen the Lord? He appeared unto me also." Paul's experience was like that of the others, and like theirs it came at the beginning of a new time of salvation.

John 20: 1-18: In John's Gospel only one woman is said to have come to the tomb, Mary Magdalene. She is said to have come at approximately the same time that all the women came, according to Matthew's gospel, "on the first day of the week, early, while it was still dark." There is even an indication that others were present with Mary; when Mary reports what she saw to Simon and the Beloved Disciple, the plural "we do not know" is used.

The tomb to which Mary came was probably a horizontal cave tomb, with an entrance at ground level thru a small doorway. It was usually less than 3 feet high. If adults entered it, they would have to crawl in. The tomb could be sealed by a boulder rolled against the door. More elaborate tombs had a wheel-shaped slab of stone rolled in a track across the entrance. Some larger tombs had an antechamber, off which were burial chambers. The body was inserted headfirst, filling up the tunnel. Some had niches cut in the sidewall, for a depth of 2 or 3 feet, beginning about 2 1/2 feet up the wall. The niche had either a flat slab or a trough on which the body could be placed. Other tombs had benches, cut into three sides of the chamber, on which the body could be laid. Jesus' body had been placed in a tomb like these.

When Mary approached the tomb, she saw that the stone covering it had been removed. She ran - notice how everyone "runs" on Easter Sunday; clearly something important was afoot - to report this to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. Alarmed by her news, they ran to the tomb. "The other disciple" arrived first, but he did not enter the tomb. He only stooped to see the linen cloths that had covered Jesus lying there. Peter came then, entered the tomb, and saw the linen cloths laying where "the other disciple" had seen them. Peter also noticed that the napkin which had covered Jesus' head was rolled up in a place by itself. The other disciple then entered the tomb, and, says the gospel, "he saw and believed" that Jesus had risen from the dead.

Why would the reaction of the two disciples be so different? The grave cloths may provide the clue. The beloved disciple had been with Jesus when Lazarus came out of his grave at Jesus' invitation, and Lazarus emerged wearing the same kind of grave cloths that Jesus had left behind. The equation is important: Lazarus - grave cloths - risen from the dead: Jesus - grave cloths - risen from the dead.

Came then the greatest recognition scene in all history. Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. Looking in, she saw two angels (Matthew had reported only one), who said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" Presuming that Jesus was dead and lying in some unknown tomb, she replied, "They have taken away my lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." Turning around, she dimly saw a figure behind her. He asked the same question the angels had asked. Mary thought she was addressing the gardener, the caretaker of the tomb, so she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Then the voice said: "Mary!" She knew the voice. "Rabbi," she replied.

Mary reached out to touch him, but Jesus pulled away. "Do not keep holding me" (this is the force of verb in Greek). "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

Let me conclude this account by quickly accenting a few of its theological implications.

1. Mary knew Jesus only after he called her by name. The mere sight of the risen Jesus did not lead Mary to faith. Faith depends upon the personal relationship that we have with Jesus Christ, and, even more importantly, with the relationship that Christ has with us. He calls us by name, and we can call him by name.

2. This story tells us that there are three distinct divisions in the life of Jesus. Jesus comes to us as the historical Christ, the person who lived in Judea and Galilee and carried out the ministries described for him there. He is also the glorified Christ, living into eternity with his Father and with those whom he loves. Between the historical Christ and the glorified Christ is the risen Christ, whose form of existence shows evidence of both his past and his future life. In the moments of resurrection, Christ is at once visible and glorious. The risen Christ, who is simultaneously earthy and glorious, is he who can be seen both by sense-vision and by the vision of faith.

Mark 16:1-8: The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament closed the Gospel of Mark with the words, "For they were afraid." The translators found this in the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament. Other endings were given to the gospel as early as the second century, but this seems to be original. The Gospel of Mark ends with the words about the women, "For they were afraid."

These women had followed Jesus and the twelve from Galilee to Jerusalem. They had seen their master crucified, and they had stood afar while Joseph of Arimathea took his body from the cross and hastily laid it in the tomb. They determined to bury Jesus properly, and on the Sabbath they had gathered what they needed in order to do that. Before dawn on the first day of the week, they had come stealthily to his grave side. They were frightened, not only by the darkness of night but also because what they were doing could be punished by death. Anyone touching the body of a crucified criminal were liable to the death penalty. They were also fearful that they might not even be able to enter the grave. The stone in front of it was very heavy. Who would roll it away for them?

Imagine their surprise when they looked up through the dim morning light and found that the stone had been rolled away. Imagine their further surprise when they entered the tomb and found not the dead body of Jesus but "a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side" of the tomb. They were alarmed; "thrown out of equilibrium" is what the word means. The young man spoke to them, "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Behold the place they laid him."

This young man, often mistakenly called an angel, is the key to the story. The word "young man" is used only twice in the Gospel of Mark. It is here, and it is in the story in Mark 14:51-52. There a young man was following Jesus from his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane toward Jerusalem where he would be tried. The arresting soldiers turned and caught hold of him. But he slipped out of the linen cloth that he was wearing and ran off naked. In the Garden of Gethsemane, this young man was fearful, he was silent, he was naked.

In the Garden of the Empty Grave, where Jesus had been buried, his situation was totally reversed. He was poised, not fearful. He was clothed in a white robe, not naked. He was seated, not running away. He was not silent but had a message to bring to the women. Such is the change that the resurrected Christ effected in those he encountered. Such is the change he continues to effect in those whom he encounters today.

Said the young man to the women: "He has been raised. . . . Go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." The disciples were to be sent back into Galilee in order to carry out in that region the ministry that Jesus had begun. As Jesus had gone before them as they came to Jerusalem just a few weeks before, now he will go before them again and lead them into the work they are to perform. "There you will see him," he said. The word for "see" is the same one used in First Corinthians 15, and what we said about it then applies here as well. All the disciples had deserted Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the Garden of the Empty Grave, Jesus mobilizes them again so that they can fulfill what they began when he called them to himself. Peter is picked out for special attention. Not only had he deserted his master in Gethsemane. Peter had denied him when Jesus was brought to trial. Peter needs this special invitation if he is to be restored into Jesus' fellowship.

At this point the women flee. Terror and amazement seized them; an inner trauma had knocked the center out of their lives. Says the Gospel of Mark, "They said nothing to no one. For they were afraid." On this strange note, this gospel ends.

Or does it end here? Halford Luccock, late of Yale University Divinity School, had this to say, "There is a real fitness in this fact that the Gospel of Mark is an unfinished Gospel. 'The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,' is always unfinished. It is a continuing story, to be carried on in individual lives like ours. The Apostle Paul added his page to it, 'Last of all . . . he appeared also to me.' There is an unwritten page left for each of us to write, our record of what Jesus had said and done in us."