Mary is there at the cross, filled with shock and sorrow. She is there at the tomb also, filled with gloom and grief. She has seen her friend, Jesus, brutally tortured and murdered. She now sees “the stone removed from the tomb.” Knowing Jesus is horribly and certainly dead, she begins to wonder, ‘Where have the soldiers who murdered him and should be here at the tomb guarding his body, “put him.”
The soldiers of the Roman Empire will not be there for Mary to help find Jesus. It is not the work they do. Soldiers are paid to murder, to destroy. They are trained by and as superiors to dominate, to inflict suffering, to kill. They complete their training, as they completed it against Jesus, and then soldiers leave. They return to their camp, their nation, with its comrades and concubines who will be fawning supplicants and bestow their approval and their acclaim. The soldiers of the U.S. Empire have been doing so for centuries, nearly a generation now in one current war. In this 21st century the U.S. has tortured and murdered our brothers and sisters in Christ in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Kenya, Libya, Uganda, Syria, Niger, Yemen, and elsewhere. From 800 known military bases the U.S unleashes unrepentant terror. The U.S. Empire is already Nazi Germany; of the 1940’s. For 18 plus years at least, it has been invading sovereign nations and waging war. The U.S. Empire has been waging a known persecution against Arabs and Muslims as the Nazis waged it against Gypsies and Jews. U.S. soldiers in particular, but also soldiers from whichever mercenary nation employs them, leave behind grieving Mary Magdalenes; injured fathers, dead mothers, amputee teenagers, dying babies. They leave behind rubble for homes and hospitals; despair for families and futures. Deep inside they know this. They know they are not Mary – they will not be there to nurture communion among those who survive their terror. They will not be there to offer love and compassion to those resolute to forgive and forge new lives. Soldiers will not be there to act as healers for all those whose spirits are broken and whose lives are shattered. They will not be there for they do not yet ‘understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead.’ They do not yet understand that we too will rise from the dead. Nor do they yet understand that they too can rise from the dead – from the dominating, suffering, and killing they inflict, even upon themselves. We invite soldiers to rise with us. We invite all soldiers to leave the hammers and nails and guns and bombs and rise from the dead. Be there for the resurrection. Be there for life beyond the grave.
“Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.” (Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep – Mary Elizabeth Frye)
Prayer: Spirit of Life, help us rise again.
Question: How can I turn away from this grave of a deadly terrorist nation to rise again into new life?
April 21, 2019 Gospel John 20:1-9 Easter Sunday