“Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But 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.” (Mark 16:6b-7)

I make no apologies for my skepticism, even when reading scripture, but if you are squeamish about such things, maybe you should just scroll on by.

I must admit that when I encountered this angelic pronouncement that Jesus would appear to his disciples in Galilee, I always suspected that maybe Mark was shading the story a bit.  Now, let me be clear, I didn’t doubt that Jesus was raised or that he appeared to his disciples post-resurrection.  I didn’t even doubt he appeared to them in Galilee.

What I doubted was that he told them to go to Galilee and hang around until he appeared.

You see, the way I figured it is this: after Jesus’ death and the disappointment of the disciples, they drifted on back towards home, making up excuses for why they had ruined the family business to follow a dead rabbi and risked getting it in the neck themselves.  After encountering the Risen Lord, they perked right up and started acting like apostles, but there was that shameful episode of going back to Galilee, tail tucked firmly between legs, that had to be explained.  The solution: let’s just remember it not as a retreat, but in obedience to Jesus’ instructions.

I hope my skepticism doesn’t shock you too badly, because even though I think my initial skeptical opinion could be correct, I am more inclined these days to believe the story as written: Jesus told them that they would encounter him in Galilee.

The deep truth of that story doesn’t depend on what the motives of Peter and the rest of the apostles were as they left Jerusalem for their hometowns up in Galilee.  I think the deep truth is this: Jesus told them that they would encounter him in his risen power in the very places where they lived and worked.  For the first disciples of Jesus, this was Galilee.

For us, not so much.  For us, Jesus promises to reveal himself in life-giving power in Hamburg and Orchard Park, in Buffalo, and even Langford.  Where do you encounter the one whom death could not hold?  Wherever you live your life, with the people you love, in labor and leisure, today and each day forever more.

Prayer:  Tomb-busting God, you know where I’ll be.  Meet me there with the life I need for this day.  Amen.