Third Sunday of Pascha: Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women; The Holy Martyr Pelagia.
Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15:43-16:8.
Read Mark 15:43-16:8
Character drives plot. What we do originates from and reveals who we are. Our ongoing spiritual re-formation takes as its starting point what we have done or omitted to do. We then open ourselves to grace and make reparation. Over time, we work with God ever closer to the core of our being, renewed in his likeness. In doing so, it is not only our character that is revealed, but God’s.
Several characters converging at the death and resurrection of Jesus drive the events of salvation history forward. Joseph of Arimathea finally “took courage”. A “respected member of the council” which orchestrated the events leading to Jesus’ death, he chose instead to provide a dignified, even honored, burial for him. The fact that he was “looking for the kingdom of God” reveals God’s prior work of grace in his life, drawing him forward toward this choice.
Jesus’ foundational “rock” disciple, Peter, had made a different choice. At this point he was still in the agony of having betrayed Christ. God reveals his faithful love by reaching out specifically to him by name through the angel at the tomb.
The linchpin between both is Mary Magdalene. She was the one who was among both those who witnessed Jesus’ burial and those who witnessed that he had risen. She followed Christ in grief; she followed through in burial service to him in love. “Amazed” at the news of his resurrection, even she was also momentarily “afraid”. But she was entrusted with the message of hope that what Jesus had previously said still stood and that he would go ahead of his disciples and be seen by them.
Considering our choices, we can relate to each of these characters through their emotions. God’s characteristic lovingkindness is the constant, in their lives and ours.