The changes and chances of this life are many. Our bodies go through inevitable changes that ultimately end in death. Change is inevitable, life is fleeting, and we have damaged the only home we know—planet earth. Fear, weariness, and discouragement, once planted in the heart, are hard to uproot. And yet, God does not grow weary, and when we wait on God, God renews our strength. God given strength is necessary to set aside fear, to find hope even in the most hopeless of situations, and to take the strength God gives us to carry out God’s healing work in the world. In Mark’s resurrection story, the angel tells the women not to fear, that Jesus has been raised, and that they are to go and tell the disciples and Peter that they are to return to Galilee, where they will see Jesus. Terrified, they say nothing to anyone. Our challenge is the same. We must set aside our fear to hear the good news that Jesus has been raised, that God is continually in the process of making all things new, and that God is with us, continually renewing our strength—and to act on that good news.
Isaiah 40:21-31
Isaiah spans the rise of the Babylonian Empire and the exile of the Israelites to Babylon (609-538 BC; chs. 40-55). These chapters in the scroll of Isaiah appear to address a situation later in the exile (circa 540 BCE) when the prophet proclaims that God wants them to return to Jerusalem. Most of the older generation would have died, those who remained would have heard the stories of Jerusalem, but this generation would be very comfortable, settled, well off, living in a fertile and cultured country. They were safe, had freedom and many obtained wealth.
After the prologue in Isa 40:1-11 the remainder of the chapter extols the abilities of God as Creator of the world. This passage describes God’s majesty, power and compassion It finishes with a rhetorical question to the people asking them, "how could they have not known the ways of God?
The prophet Isaiah, speaking to a people in exile about the promise of return, reminds the people that their God is the Creator of the earth, the same God who has been with them since the beginning of time, and God will never abandon them. The refrain, “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” is repeated in this passage rhetorically to remind the people that this is what their Scriptures have told them, what the songs they sing are all about, what the stories they tell their children all mean: God is the Creator, and that those who wait upon God, who don’t give up, will be renewed and restored by God: “They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (vs 31).
Verses 21-24 begin with another series of rhetorical questions. Do the people not know that it is Yahweh who sits above earth? The creation language carries with it implications of kingship, sovereignty and might. The last verse in this section (v. 24) comes back to a series of ‘negative statements’ comparing the rulers of the nations to plants which have scarcely taken root before Yahweh blows and they wither.
The comparisons between God and other deities continue in verses 25-26, using the same rhetorical question as verse 18. While verse 18 invites a look at physical objects, verse 25 turns the focus to heavenly objects, most likely stars, sun, and moon. The claims here undercut those of the astral cults of Babylon that place these heavenly objects as divine beings.
The people are then asked in v26 to lift their eyes to the heavens and observe their completeness. In the ancient world the host of heaven were considered deities and heavenly creatures. Yahweh does not let one go. This is a point about power, but also it should be one of comfort for Yahweh’s people.
Finally, verses 27-31 address Jacob/Israel who are asked why they think their way is hidden from Yahweh. Israel thought that God did not see their predicament and disregarded them, but Isaiah assures them that this is not so.
The people’s lack of knowledge of Yahweh arises from their insecurity and lack of willingness to enter into faith, not from their willful rejection. But the people need to grasp that Yahweh’s understanding is unsearchable and that he grants his power to the weak (vv. 28-29). In spite of the people’s inability to comprehend the way of Yahweh or to see any confidence in the future, Yahweh moves to deliver them. They will find both new energy and hope in waiting for Yahweh (v. 31).
There are 3 main points in the reading:
First, the prophet wants us to know that God is merciful enough to give power to fainting men and women.
In fact, the second thing Isaiah reveals is that even the strongest among us will fall down due to life’s struggles. “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted” (v.30). Even when choice young people grow weary, God makes a mercy-filled promise: “but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (v. 31).
The third main point which the prophet stresses is that those who wait in quiet confidence and daily trust will draw their confidence and strength from the Lord—these are Jehovah’s waiters. Isaiah tells Israel that they can exchange their weakness for God’s strength.
Psalm 24
This psalm is interesting in its question/answer format, which explores the beauty of the work of God’s hands. Generally it is divided into three parts: vv. 1-2; vv. 3-6; and vv. 7-10.
This psalm is part of a processional liturgy. Some see it as a liturgy that sketches the return of the Ark of the Lord It begins with a brief hymn (vv. 1-2) to God as creator. “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” The earth does not belong to us and we are not given permission to do to it as we wish The second verse, noting the foundation of the world “upon the seas” refers to the Canaanite (and Mesopotamian) beliefs about the primeval battle between the deity and the chaos of the sea. So in creation, God separates the land from the sea. Then we are transported to the temple, and the question as to who can rightfully ascend its heights. The question is answered with a series of qualifications that are represented in the people of God.
Then comes a teaching dialogue (vv. 3-6) on the conditions for entry into the sanctuary. These first two sections may have been sung by a choir inside the temple gates. The last section (vv. 7-10) then would be sung by a group outside the gates, likely carrying in procession the ark of the covenant, with which God’s presence was associated.
Verses 7-10 depict God’s parallel entry, cast in the imagery of Mesopotamian festive processionals that return the divine “presence” to its dwelling, as a celebration of the Divine Warrior, the King of Glory, Yahweh Sebaot (Yahweh of Armies) This claim connects God the deliverer (vv. 7-10) with God the creator (vv. 1-2). Into this presence of God as creator and redeemer the worshiper enters (vv. 3-6) and receives the blessing, vindication, and salvation (v. 5) that he seeks.
Verse seven probably begins a separate work, in which the question posed wishes to identify whom it is that the pilgrims are ascending to worship. Some commentators think that this work actually was commenting on the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the field of battle (The Lord who is valiant in battle).
Revelation 21:1-7
John’s visions in the book of Revelation reveal our world as God sees it
As we enter Revelation 21 everything has changed. With John we see both a new heaven and a new earth. A holy city descends from heaven, resplendent with gold, jewels, and divine light. After chapters of trauma and conflict on a cosmic scale, after Death and Hades finally meet their end, everything has become new.
In this final vision, John sees what our world will be like when finally God rules and all evil, together with its consequences of death, mourning, wailing and pain, will be no more (21:4).
He pictures the completion of God’s action in salvation history that began with the first creation of a world that became flawed by sin (Genesis 1–3) and needed redemption, and culminates in this new creation transformed completely by God’s holy presence and power.
Here he has a vision of a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth. (from It pulls from Isaiah 65:17, which also proclaims new heavens and a new earth, an order so completely transformed that “former things” are forgotten (see Isaiah 43:18-19; 66:22). That the “sea is no more” is a comment on the ancient myths regarding God’s victory over chaos, represented in the sea itself.
There is the new city (a heavenly Jerusalem) and a loud voice proclaiming new realities from the Throne of God. One of the canons at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City opined that the only proper way to read these proclamations, which appear elsewhere in the book, especially in the letters to the churches, was to shout them in a loud voice. The signs of the proclamation are a reflection of what the first Isaiah wrote in the first reading for the day. Again, it is a vision as if it had already had been completed. Thus the one seated on the throne (the Resurrected One) states emphatically, “It is done,” and then encapsulates all of it in his own existence as the “Alpha and the Omega.”
When “the old order has passed away” (21:4), John sees in its place a new order—a city prepared for our dwelling that comes down from God instead of being built up by human effort. Now God’s holy people (all the saints) can experience the fullness of God’s abiding presence (21:3, 22-27). John reminds us that God is the beginning and end of our lives and is always transforming us into saints—better members of God’s holy people.
Revelation’s proclamation of total newness grounds itself in God’s character. First, God has demonstrated God’s own faithfulness toward Israel. This is the dimension Isaiah celebrates: the God who chose and formed Israel as a people will see to Israel’s salvation. Second, for the author of Revelation the “testimony of Jesus” embodies that divine faithfulness by making possible the renewal of all things. In Israel, and specifically through Israel’s messiah, God has always been working salvation and renewal. Now, Revelation proclaims, is the moment of consummation.
Consummation indeed, for the holy city arrives adorned as if she were a bride being presented to her husband. As a bride, the new city appears in stark contrast to the “great city” presented in Revelation 17. The new bride will be dressed simply, modestly, as opposed to Babylon’s precious metals, fine jewelry, and richly dyed garments. There’s no escaping the patriarchy that determines this image. At the same time, the bride’s modest appearance stands in contrast the opulence — extravagance purchased through the exploitation of millions — that adorns Babylon.
Two features of this passage, often overlooked, provide resources that may renew our imaginations.
First, the new creation features no sea. The sea’s absence may trouble us at first. Almost all of us love water. We take particular pleasure in the ocean. (For Revelation’s readers, “the sea” means the Mediterranean.) But for Revelation the sea’s absence belongs with the eradication of death, mourning, crying, and pain. As it does in some other Jewish literature of the period, the sea is where evil empires operate. In the great war Satan takes his stand alongside the sea, and the wicked beast arises out of that very same sea (Revelation 12:18-13:1). The beast makes war against Jesus’ followers and kills many of them. Moreover, the beast is closely aligned with the great city; after all, Babylon rides upon the beast’s back. When the “great city” is destroyed, those who mourn include especially political rulers (“kings”), merchants, and sailors (18:9-20). The beast-ly empire conducts its military and diplomatic operations on the sea, just as it handles commerce on the sea. In Revelation the sea’s absence does not reflect aversion to the world; instead, it’s part of Revelation’s condemnation against an empire that uses war and commerce to oppress ordinary people.
Second, we note that the new city comes down to us from heaven. We do not go up to it. Revelation does not imagine the saints escaping this world for a heavenly reward. On the contrary, the saints inhabit a brand new world created right where they live. This new world may not have a sea, but it does include a river, “bright as crystal” (Revelation 22:1). This new world hardly represents an escape from everyone else and their troubles. When Revelation says God has come down to dwell with mortals (21:3), it means it. The loud voice proclaims, “These peoples will be God’s”. Drawing again from Isaiah’s vision, Revelation describes “the nations” walking in the light of the new city (21:24) and finding healing therein (22:3; see Isaiah 60:11; Jeremiah 3:17). Revelation envisions a renewal, not an escape.
Mark 16:1-8
This passage is heard on Easter. Easter celebrates the reality of Jesus’ resurrection in all its many aspects. Hope, Transformation, Evangelism and a new life.
Market brings us in the early dawn hours on the first day of the week to the tomb where Jesus is buried. The Sabbath has passed and Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices to anoint the body of Jesus. "And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb" (16:2).
Mark 16:1-8 in its simplicity paints the picture of an empty tomb and an open future. In no way does its starkness or lack of post-resurrection encounters weaken its witness to the amazing realities of Easter morning.
It is good that the first witnesses are women, whose testimony would not be considered reliable in first century courts of law. The resurrection cannot be reduced to mere fact anymore than the moment of conception or the wonder of life can be reduced to political wrangling. Resurrection is beyond rationality – though not irrational – and invites us to a deeper vision of ourselves and the world.
The women’s question haunts us in our every day experience, “Who will roll away the stone for us?” There are boulders that stand in the way of the future, that block the pathways of hope, and imprison us in fear and self-limitation. Resurrection turns boulders into highways and limits into possibilities.
But The stone has been rolled away, the tomb is empty, and the future is full of promise. We don’t need the exact details of resurrection to believe that Christ is alive, unbound and ever-present. The message we hear is the heart of the Easter proclamation then and now: "He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him" (16:6b).
The messenger at the tomb tells the women that Jesus is going ahead of them.
The witness of the empty tomb is a message to be proclaimed: "But go, tell" (16:7a). The two imperative verbs convey an ongoing action and immediacy to the commission. The audience is the disciples, with Peter singled out as a spokesperson in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is already going on ahead of them to the place of his early ministry in Galilee: "there you will see him, just as he told you" (16:7b). During the Passover meal Jesus recalled the prophetic words of Zechariah: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered" (14:27, see Zechariah 13:7). The shepherd who has been struck in crucifixion is the risen Lord in Jesus’ words of promise: "But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee" (14:28). The disciples are the sheep who have been scattered in the traumatic events that led up to and followed Jesus’ crucifixion. The crucified and risen Lord comes among his followers as the shepherd who goes before the sheep (16:7).
This is our hope as well, that Jesus is present in whatever futures we face and he is working in all things to bring forth God’s shalom and inspire us toward partnership in healing the world.
The women are overcome with awe and amazement – even terror – and initially don’t tell anyone, but eventually the word gets out. They go forth to the male disciples and to Galilee and discover the spirit, energy, and life of Christ is there to meet them. Like the most important things in life, resurrection can’t be reduced to mere fact – or the suppositions of scholars who speak of stolen bodies or carcasses eaten by dogs – but pushes us and our experience toward new horizons of wonder and amazement. More than that, it is wonder and amazement that gives us the energy and inspiration, like those first women and men who witnessed resurrection, to transform the world.