The Other Mary Matthew 28:1-11 Easter April 5, 2015 Earlier this week ESPN ran a story about a Milwaukee Brewer pitcher that, outside of hardcore baseball fans, is a relative unknown. Number 13 on the program, the southpaw who went 9-13 last year and who has a career ERA of 4.39, is named Will Smith. Not the Will Smith, mind you. Not the Fresh Prince of Bel Air Will Smith or husband of the very beautiful Jada Pinkett Will Smith. He s the other Will Smith. And several days ago he wrote a letter to his more famous counterpart asking to meet him. He wrote that despite their very different professions, the two of them had a lot in common. He offered the following examples as proof: We re both tall. We both look great in black suits. We both like Tommy Lee Jones, although now that I think about it, everyone loves Tommy Lee Jones. You were in The Wild, Wild West. I own a cowboy hat. We both have dorky sidekicks. You have Carlton; I have my teammate Tyler Thornburg. The Milwaukee Will Smith also wrote to the Hollywood Will Smith that he would soon be coming to L.A. to play the Angels of Anaheim and that he would love to get together, and that his dorky sidekick and fellow pitcher Tyler would even pay for dinner. If they do meet, then I have to imagine that there will be a photo-op or two. About a half hour into some Monday night Sportscenter ESPN will probably cover their meeting. After that, however, the Milwaukee Will Smith s 15 minutes of fame will be over and gone forever. Even if the Brewers do make it into the post-season (they will have to beat the Cardinals to do so, which I am predicting on this opening day won t happen!), he will quietly fade into the minutia of baseball history. The story of The other Will Smith came to mind as I was reading Matthew s account of that first Easter. If you remember, the evangelist starts the world s most famous story by writing, 1
After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Now almost everyone has heard of Mary Magdalene. As practically everyone who has ever heard of her knows, from the first time she met Jesus perhaps in her hometown of Magdala, a small town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee not more than 5 miles from either Capernaum or Nazareth she chose to follow him. The more sensational accounts of her character and her following aside, nearly everyone knows that she was as close to Jesus as either Peter, James, or John ever were. In fact many say that she was as much as a disciple as any of the men. She was one of those women that Luke said had followed Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry in Galilee. And while the gospel writers disagree as to the complete list of those who went to the tomb early on the first day of the week, all four of them agree that Mary Magdalene was the leader of the bunch. Based on the fact that a disciple is one who confesses the risen Christ as Lord, she just may be the first. But according to Matthew, Mary Magdalene did not come to the tomb alone. Walking along right beside her early that Easter morning was the other Mary. It seems clear that even though it was dark they knew exactly where they were going. Just a few verses earlier, you see, Matthew wrote that after Jesus had died on Friday and Joseph of Arimathea had taken his body from the cross, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in its resting place, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (there she is again) were there, sitting opposite the tomb. On first glance these descriptions of this second visitor to the tomb seems totally reasonable. After all, there are so many other women named Mary that are mentioned in the gospels; so many other women of the same name that traveled with and ministered to Jesus. The only Mary to get more press than the one from Magdala, of course, was Mary, the Mother of Jesus whom scholars like to refer to as The BVM, or The Blessed Virgin Mary. There was also Mary of Bethany. You may remember her as the sister of Martha and Lazarus and the one who used to sit adoringly at Jesus feet. The mother of James the Less and Joses, a woman of some means who had followed Jesus to Jerusalem from Galilee, was also named Mary. Not only did she financially support Jesus, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke all report that she bravely walked to 2
Calvary s hill. And finally there was Mary, the wife of Clopas. According to John s gospel she was another who, along with Jesus mother and the Beloved Disciple, wept at the foot of the cross as they watched Jesus die. Since there are so many Marys mentioned in scripture, I suppose that it s easy to see why Matthew may have been confused and simply referred to this one simply as the other Mary. And yet, you would think that such an important, world-changing, nothing-like-this-hasever-happened-before event like the resurrection of Jesus from the dead would demand the use of full names. According to James Kershner s The Elements of News Reporting (which I ve read is a basic handbook of the profession) the very first rule effective of journalism is Report the Basics, (i.e., the who, what, where, when, and how of the story), followed very closely by Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy. And Purdue University s Journalism Department says that for veracity s sake, full names must always be used in any story. Matthew s description of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary fails on both counts. Mention of the other Mary is not just bad reporting, but seems she is like nothing more than an afterthought. Have you ever felt like an afterthought? Have you ever been treated like a fifth wheel? Does it ever seem that the world either ignores or is totally indifferent to you; that you simply do not matter in the grand or even not-so-grand scheme of things? Webster s Dictionary defines an afterthought as something secondary. The Free Dictionary describes it as a later or second thought. And the Urban Dictionary, which has become one of my favorite resources, explains it like this: Afterthought An insult used to describe someone of little or no importance. One of my clergy colleagues is currently the pastor of First UMC of Lawrence, Kansas. His name is Tom Brady. No, not that Tom Brady. Not the NFL s most proficient quarterback and the husband of world s highest paid supermodel Tom Brady. Around the confines of the Great Plains Annual Conference this one is simply known as the other Tom Brady. And yes, it s a joy and a burden he lives with every day. Now I suppose that his very recognizable name makes him a step or two above your average afterthought. Me? Well, I m just Tom. Not New England Tom Brady or Kansas Tom Brady, not Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck, Tom Landry, Tom Jones, Tom Brokaw, or even Tom Thumb or Tom Terrific. I m just Tom. As a matter 3
of fact, the few times my Kansas colleague and I have been together, I m always referred to as the other Tom: the nondescript, common, totally unremarkable, garden variety, won tremember-my-name-six-months-after-i m-gone Tom. Around some folks in this Conference that shall remain nameless, it often seems as if I m nothing more than an afterthought. And to be brutally honest this fine April morning, I would imagine that most of you are afterthoughts too. Janelle Loes is an up-and-coming jazz musician who just so happened to write a song entitled Afterthought. When she reaches the chorus she soulfully sings: You don t want to be forgot/you thought things would change but they ve not/you don t want to live your life as an afterthought. You may not be a jazz aficionado, but I d be willing to bet that a lot of you totally agree with her words. In that very first verse of Matthew s most famous story the other Mary seems to be nothing more than an afterthought. Her off-handed mention makes her appear to be just some literary also-ran. But things start to change as the story progresses. With what seems to me to be a mixture of comedy and wonder, Matthew wrote that as the two women were walking towards the tomb they felt the earth move under their feet. The ground beneath them began to shake, rattle, and roll. If that wasn t enough to get them all shook up, they then watched as something that they could only describe later as an angel from heaven came right up to the spot where they were standing. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stood dumbfounded as the angel pushed back the heavy stone that blocked the entrance of the tomb. The soldiers sent by Pilate to guard the tomb were also present, but they were so scared by the absolute brilliance of the moment that they couldn t move a muscle. It was at that point that this angel looked at the two Marys and said with an entirely straight face, You have nothing to fear. Yeah, right. Like seeing something like that is an everyday occurrence. But then the angel offered the reason they no longer had to be afraid: I know that you are looking for Jesus, the one that was nailed to the cross. But he is not here. He has risen, just as he said would happen. Come and look at the spot where they put him. Not being in any position to argue, the two Marys did exactly as they were told. The angel then said: Don t lollygag around here. No go 4
quickly and tell his disciples what has happened and that he will meet them in Galilee. Now scram! Well, as you can imagine, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary didn t hesitate a bit. They started running back to the place where the disciples were still huddled together in fear. Halfway there, however, they were stopped in their tracks by someone standing in the middle of their path. Greetings! that someone said to them. I ve always found a good bit of humor in Jesus initial words. Greetings! Really? The last thing these two women saw was Jesus lifeless body being laid in a tomb and yet the first words of the risen Christ were the New Testament equivalent of Hey y all? No wonder the two Marys had little to say. Instead, they simply fell to their knees and held tightly onto the one they now knew to be the Son of God. Jesus said, Don t be afraid. It s really me. Now go and tell Peter and the others that I ll meet them in Galilee! The rest, as they say, is history. Now in addition to the most amazing news of that story, I hope and pray that you heard the equally amazing news of that story. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary-whoever she may be were the first two witnesses to the resurrection. Not Mary Magdalene and Peter, mind you; not the rock upon whom Jesus would build his Church. Not Mary Magdalene and John, the Beloved Disciple who leaned upon Jesus breast. Not Mary Magdalene and Caiaphas, the chief priest and most influential man of faith in Jerusalem. Not Mary Magdalene and Pontius Pilate, the local representative of Caesar, the most powerful man in the world. Not Mary Magdalene and anyone else of great stature and importance that you would like to plug into that phrase. And all of this is not even counting the fact that in Jesus s day women were valued less than men; that their testimony was thought to be totally unreliable. Yet Matthew wrote that the first witnesses to the most important moment of all time, the event that some have described as the hinge of history, were none other than Mary Magdalene and the other Mary; a named woman and an unnamed woman; someone famous and someone not-so-famous; a first thought and an afterthought. Do you remember that definition from the Urban Dictionary? An afterthought is an insult used to describe someone of little or no importance. The story of 5
what happened to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary on that first Easter takes that definition and turns it on its proverbial head. I sure do hope that you heard that. I pray that you let those words sink deep into your jellybean laden soul. Our culture tells us time after time again that we have to do something, achieve something, or prove something in order to be somebody. Today s society puts a premium on a good resume and a recognizable name. Just like Ol Blue Eyes crooned, the world in which we live demands us to be king of the hill, top of the heap, a number one. Matthew s telling of the Easter story, however, totally disagrees. The very first line of his story makes that abundantly clear. After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb, and once there those two women were the very first to encounter the risen Christ. God s world-changing new day, you see; the veritable hinge of history, was first witnessed by ordinary, messed-up, failing, anonymous afterthoughts. If that s not good news, then I don t know what it. Matthew s telling of the Easter story proclaims that it doesn t matter who you are. It doesn t matter where you ve been. It doesn t matter what you ve done or who you know. The story of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary reminds us that all that really matters is that Christ the Lord is risen today. The good news of this glorious day proclaims that God has turned the world upside down and inside out in a way that changes everything for everybody. And that good news includes you and that includes me. People often ask Christians, Do you believe the resurrection? Do you really believe that the message of Easter turns the world upside down for first thoughts and afterthoughts alike? Let me offer my answer to that question. I ask you to please listen very closely. This morning the other Tom stands before you and dares to affirm that he not only believes it, but that he is counting upon it. Just like the other Mary, the other Tom stakes his life upon it! With every fiber in my being, I believe that Christ the Lord is Risen today. And on this day, I invite you to do the same. 6
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