CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Forgiveness has Risen from the Grave

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

- John 20:1-18

Jesus said Mary Magdalene’s name while she wept outside the tomb. He connected with her; this is how she recognized him at last, from hearing her name in his voice. The risen Lord’s first work is to reconnect with his people. Mary, along with all the women and the beloved disciple (John?) were the only ones who did not abandon him. They had stood by him at the cross. Their relationship had not been broken by betrayal and abandonment, and death could not end their relationship. “Mary,” said Jesus, and in that word and at that sound Mary came to see that love was more powerful than death, that the relationship between Jesus and his people could not be broken. The women who were there at the last got to see him first after his resurrection.

But what about the 11 who ran away after the betrayal of Judas? What about those faithless men who could not stay awake with him one hour, who denied him when the chips were down, who abandoned him scattered to the four winds? Surely they were not worthy of Jesus’ care and concern?

But notice what happens next. Jesus commissions Mary Magdalene as the Apostle of the Resurrection with these words: “Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Jesus uses the language of relationships. My brothers. My Father. Your Father. My God. Your God.

Yes, his friends who had proven untrue remained his beloved brothers. Connected to him, to God and to each other, bound together by the same love that called Mary by name. We are together, Jesus said, bound by the sacred covenant that God will never break even though we do not keep it. Forgiveness has risen from the grave, as St. John Chrysostom has said. And because love never ends, we are all forgiven sinners who stand by the power of his resurrection.

Forgiveness is powerful.

This sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Given the choice whether to forgive a person or not, a feeling that may quickly and easily arise in us is that to do so would be to show weakness. It feels as if it would put us in a “down” position relative to the offender. The temptation is to believe that the strong get even or, at the very least, they get some measure of retributive justice.

But in reality, failure to forgive grants the offender ongoing power over us. Sure, feeling victimized and nursing resentment has a certain reward to it. But this is feeding our souls with empty calories that rob us of health and life. It is, in fact, deadly venom to our souls. We mistake the withholding of forgiveness for exercising power over the offender when, in reality, we are granting them rent-free living space in our heads and hearts, where this person continues to harm and torment us.

Forgiveness is powerful. It gives us back our souls. It is the first step to becoming free of the harm we have suffered. When Jesus prayed on the cross “Father, forgive them,” he preserved his true self. His tormentors never had him because he forgave them. When Jesus forgave us, he maintained his integrity, his wholeness, his holiness.

He also showed us thereby that forgiveness is proactive rather than reactive. He did not wait for his executioners and his faithless friends to express or show remorse and regret. Waiting for that to happen is again another way we continue to give the offender power over us. It hands to the offender all the cards while we delude ourselves into believing that we hold the ace of forgiveness up our sleeve. When our actions are contingent on the behavior of the offender, we are back in bondage. Proactive forgiveness, on the other hand, releases a power in us and in the world that cannot be abated.

The theologian Edward Schillebeeckx, writing about the death and resurrection of Jesus, has tersely said, “Dead men forgive no sins.” Having chosen to keep his soul intact, death could not hold Jesus down in the tomb. The Risen Lord stood then and stands now and will stand forever because forgiveness is more powerful than hate, because love is more powerful than death.

Jesus gave us the power of his forgiveness. You and I now have the power to forgive ourselves and to forgive each other. Which is how we live in the hope of the resurrection. No matter what death we go through in this life, we stand risen by the power of the forgiving Christ. By the grace and mercy of God, resurrection follows death as the true pattern of our lives. Nothing can ultimately harm us when we stand here and now in the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection. We are free to live in joy, love and peace, thus beginning to experience even now a foretaste of the life to come in God’s nearer presence.

Forgiving ourselves and others is to live in the hope of the resurrection. This is God’s grace as well as call to us this Eastertide and all life long. Alleluia, alleluia!

Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

BCP, p. 816f

The Rev. Daniel Robayo is the missioner for Latino/Hispanic ministries in the Diocese of North Carolina.