Easter Vigil – Year B
Mark 16:1-8
The story of Ruby Bridges and Barbara Henry is inspiring – a story of courage in the face of fear. On November 14, 1960, Ruby Bridges, 6 years old, walked through an angry crowd of protestors shouting racial slurs on her way into William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She was one of the first black children in the South to attend a public school with white children. Two other black children were slated to join her, but they backed out. Ruby was on her own. In interviews, Ruby says that she really had no idea what was going on – she knew, simply, that she was attending a new school. However, I marvel at her courage. She was 6 years old. She walked through an angry crowd of protestors. Her teacher was a white woman – she had never seen a white teacher before. She was in a classroom all alone, just her and the teacher, because the parents of the white children wouldn’t allow their children to be in the same classroom with her. She wasn’t allowed in the cafeteria. She had to eat her lunch alone in the classroom. This went on for a year….my goodness, what courage! Ruby recalls wondering where are the other children? She writes, “‘I remember seeing a black doll in a coffin, which frightened me more than anything else’” (Patricia J. Williams, “The Problem We All Lived With”, The New York Times, November 21, 1999). What courage!
Barbara Henry’s story, Ruby’s teacher, is equally inspiring. The teacher who was slated to teach Ruby’s class resigned rather than teach a black child. Barbara had recently moved to the New Orleans area when she received a call from the superintendent of the schools asking her if she would be willing to teach a first grade class. Barbara agreed. She knew that this assignment was in one of the schools to be integrated, but that was all the preparation she was given. In an interview she explains, “I had no preparation whatsoever, other than the conversation with the superintendent. Then, when I got there, there was no one, ever, from the school department to talk to me or offer any kind of support. And certainly not the principal. ... I was not escorted to the front door. I had to walk to the front door all by myself – and that was pretty scary. I had to make my way through that mob of people – and give my name to the policeman to let me through. It was incredibly threatening. … I was stunned by the magnitude of the demonstrators. But I was especially stunned by the racism inside the school by the faculty, excluding me from their world, and never even greeting Ruby, not once” (Lucille Renwick, “The Courage to Learn”, Scholastic.com). Under threatening circumstances, in the face of fear, Barbara Henry and Ruby Bridges courageously completed a year of teaching and learning.
Let’s take a look at fear in our Gospel lesson this evening. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus. But when they arrive, the stone has been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb and a young man, dressed in a white robe, tells them that Jesus has been raised, and he is going ahead to Galilee, just as he foretold. And, the Gospel of Mark ends with these words: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” That’s it – that’s how the Gospel of Mark ends – in fear. Now, if you go home and look at your Bible, you will see that two additional endings are offered – a shorter and a longer version. Apparently, others were equally uncomfortable as we might be with this abrupt ending – an ending of fear, no less. And, certainly, we know through other accounts, as the writers of these additional endings knew, also, that the disciples go on to share the Good News, to spread Christ’s message. But, let us take the Gospel of Mark as is, ending in fear, and explore the message that the author is offering us.
The Gospel of Mark begins with these words: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Through this Gospel, we are learning about the beginning of the Good News. And, through this story about Jesus and his life and his message, the author focuses on the characters of the disciples. The disciples are eager to follow Jesus. When they are called by Jesus, they immediately stop what they are doing and follow. However, they have difficulty with Jesus’ teachings, they have difficulty in their faith. After calling Simon and Andrew and James and John, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever, he heals a leper, he heals a paralytic who is brought down through the roof, and he speaks in parables and explains the parables to the disciples. Yet, the disciples don’t understand. We hear in chapter 4: “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ (Mark 4:35-40).
Jesus continues to heal and to teach and yet the disciples still do not understand. We hear in chapter 8: “Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’” (Mark 8:14-21). Jesus continues to heal and to teach. We come to near the end of the Gospel and Jesus warns the disciples that they will desert him. Peter “vehemently” denies this claim. And yet, before the cock crows twice, Peter denies Christ three times. The disciples don’t understand. Though Christ heals and teaches and even explains the parables to the disciples, the disciples do not understand. And, because they do not understand, they fear the death and resurrection that Christ foretells, and the women flee from the tomb in terror.
What is the message of this Gospel as it is told? What is the message of this Gospel which opens with the words: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”? What is the message of this Gospel which portrays the disciples as weak in faith and scared? We know what happens. We know that the disciples go on to Galilee and then out into the world proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. We know this as did the listeners of the Gospel in the 1st century when the story was spread through the oral tradition. And, so, if we see the disciples portrayed in all their humanity as scared, and yet, having the courage to carry on after Christ’s death, to spread the Good News through resistance and even persecution, then surely we, too, can carryout the Good News. The Gospel is “the beginning of the good news.” Now, it’s our turn. We are called to continue the story, to share the Good News, to live our lives in faith. We can learn from the disciples. We can learn from people like Ruby Bridges and Barbara Henry. We can be courageous and faithful. Carry the message in your hearts. Carry the message out into the world. Jesus came back. Jesus was crucified and yet, he returned. There is repentance and forgiveness; there is justice and righteousness; there is promise and hope. Amen.
