Don Friesen
It was in November of 1922 that Howard Carter, after seven fruitless years of searching and archeological digging in Egypt, found a place of promise just two months before his benefactor was planning to cut off his support. Carter and his assistants uncovered a series of sixteen steps that led down to a sealed door. They broke through the sealed door and found a passageway filled with rubble. They cleared the passageway and found another sealed door marked with royal insignia. Carter drilled a hole into the door and started to chip away at the opening, until the hole was large enough for him to push through a candle and peer inside. "Can you see anything?" asked his companion. "Yes," replied Carter "wonderful things." They enlarged the hole until it was big enough to squeeze through and entered the burial chambers of King Tututkamen – a tomb that had not been opened for over 3000 years! And everywhere the glint of gold! They saw the gold mask across the face, one of the most beautiful art pieces in the world. They saw the gold sarcophagus. They saw the winged jewels. They were breathless! It was, as Carter described, "the day of days, the most wonderful that I have ever lived through."
The discovery of King Tut's tomb fascinated people around the world and created international interest in Egypt, for it revealed the incredible wealth, culture, and art of ancient Egypt. The tomb was overflowing with artifacts, among them a solid gold statue of a lion, another of a hippo, and 415 statues of servants who were to do the chores in King Tut's afterlife. The king's mummy was found with fifteen rings of various sizes on his fingers, thirteen bracelets and assorted amulets and earrings – a tomb overflowing with magnificent treasures!
There are times in life when the word, surprise, is insufficient to describe an amazing discovery. You need stronger words – powerful words like "awestruck" and "amazed".
Another Tomb, another amazing Discovery!
Some nineteen centuries earlier a discovery was made at another tomb, albeit a humbler tomb, with no treasures, no gold, and no statues of servants. In fact, the tomb's occupant had dubbed himself a servant (John 13; Philippians 2:7), and he had to rely on the generosity of one of his followers to get a tomb at all!
The discovery was made by Mary Magdalene, who was taken aback when she arrived at the tomb, for someone had removed the stone that had been rolled across the tomb's entrance. (John 20:1) She was shocked, and ran to tell some of the other disciples that Jesus' tomb was empty! (John 20:2-10) An empty tomb meant grave-robbers! It was horrible! They had lived through the awful reality of Good Friday, and in their minds Jesus was dead and gone. This was the final indignity in a long line of indignities. That the authorities would disturb Jesus' final resting place to further humiliate him and punish them was too much!
The other disciples went home. (John 20:10) Who knows what they were feeling! Three years wasted on a man who died a horrible death by a notorious and cruel method of execution! Their hopes and dreams were shattered, their leader was dead, and they could be next! We find them later hiding together off in some out-of-the-way room.
The other disciples went home, frightened, perhaps, that the authorities would look for them at the grave site, but Mary lingered, overcome with sadness. Mary "stood weeping outside the tomb" (John 20:11), and as she wept she bent over to look into the tomb she thought she saw "two angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying". (20:12) One of them asked her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" (20:13) Then a man behind her asked her the same question, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" (20:15) She assumed him to be the gardener, but answered him anyway, thinking, perhaps, that he might have been the one who moved Jesus' body. The man said to her, "Mary!" – calling her by her ancient Hebrew name, Miriam, the name of the woman who sang her wild song of triumph after watching God deliver Israel from slavery via a stupendous exit through the Red Sea! The man Mary supposed to be the gardener said to her, "Miriam!" And in what someone has called "the greatest recognition scene in all literature," Mary replied, in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!"
A Time for Superlatives!
The Old Testament philosopher tells us that "for everything there is a season, ...a time to be born, and a time to die; ...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ...a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 4, 7), and a time, I would add, to speak in superlatives!
When the archeologist peered into King Tut's tomb, he said he saw "wonderful things". The treasures in the tomb were astonishing! The amount of gold staggering! It was, as the archeologist described it, "the day of days, the most wonderful that I have ever lived through."
There are times in life when you need a constellation of superlatives to describe the indescribable! One preacher (Edward F. Markquart) uses words like "astonished" and "astounded," "dazzled and dumbfounded," "awestruck" and "amazed". Now, some preachers indulge in inflated oratory. One preacher, who couldn't resist exaggerating his stories, said to his wife on the way to church: "If I start exaggerating tonight, give me a sign and I'll stop." When in his sermon he began to tell about a large church he had visited as a boy, saying, "It was 900 feet long, 600 feet wide, and...," his wife gave him the sign, and he quickly ended his description, saying, "Of course, it was only six inches high!"
It's conventional preaching advice to "beware of exaggerations and sparing in the use of superlatives". Writers and speakers are supposed to avoid superlatives They should be reserved for occasions that merit their use, and even then should appear infrequently. It's conventional parenting advice to tell your children they're "special," but it didn't take long at all for one of our children to spot the inherent fallacy, and ask, "If everyone's so special, then what's so special about being special?" There's a thin line between authentic praise and hype!
It's conventional preaching advice to be sparing in the use of superlatives," but I've never taken a preaching class, and it seems to me that Easter might be at least one occasion in the Christian year when even superlatives are inadequate! I know we all tend to understate things, and I know we're Canadians, eh? And I know that faith is not a function of verbiage and the volume with which it is expressed – and there is a time to weep – but Easter is not the time! This is a time of exuberant joy and delight! It is a time to express the delight of the father who welcomes his prodigal child home and throws a feast in his honour! (Luke 15) He expresses his joy in every way he can because, in his words, "‘...this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate," says the Gospel. (15:24)
There has been much in the news this week about the Carleton University student who is missing, and about her parents' frantic search for her. Years ago a family I know lost a brother. He just disappeared one day. His whole family, including the two brothers I know, searched for him. Some twenty to twenty-five years later he surfaced and made contact with his family. Whatever his reasons for disappearing, they were buried under the family's joy and celebration at his return!
A similar story occurred during the Vietnam War, when a family received notice that their only child had been killed. His dog tags were sent home to his parents, who held a service to mark their tragic loss. Imagine their surprise, when after the war ended the telephone in their home rang, and when the mother picked it up the voice said: "Mom, it's your son!" He had been a prisoner of war, and with the war's end gained release. Can you imagine her surprise? Words do not even begin to express her astonishment. I imagine some superlatives and a whole lot more were expressed in that home that day!
The Inexpressible Delight of Love!
The New Testament Gospel writers wrote their Gospels, not as disinterested biographies of Jesus, but as appeals to our faith and imagination! They were dealing, not with information, but with a life-giving story. Their purpose was to paint such a compelling portrait of Jesus that the reader would be moved to take Jesus as Lord! The plot of their story leads inexorably to a tragic end ... only to end in surprise! To the reader's astonishment and delight! Jesus is alive!
The astonishment is sustained. As you read through the book of Acts, you repeatedly come across the amazement and astonishment (2:7, 12; 3:10; 4:13; 8:13; 12:16) of those who heard the Gospel story – the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Most amazing of all was the fact that this story turned around one the Christian faith's most effective opponents! All who heard the Apostle Paul "were amazed," Acts tells us, and they said, "Isn't this the man who caused so much trouble for (us) in Jerusalem...?" (Acts 9:21)
The Gospel writers heralded the news of Jesus! That's something you do with trumpets! They regarded the good news so good, so important, so profound and life-changing that were one to do Jesus justice, said John, the whole world could not contain all the books about him! (John 20:30-31) The Gospel is witness to the hope that whatever wonders we have experienced, they are as nothing compared to the wonders we will experience! The love of Christ is so limitless that books, whatever their number, could not possibly do him justice.
Saint Benedict (~480-547) called it "the inexpressible delight of love". (Prologue to the Rule of Benedict) It's not that wordsmiths have not tried to find words to express the inexpressible, but neither theological language, nor prose, nor even poetry sufficiently express the Easter mystery! The Apostle Paul hinted at the same when he wrote to the Ephesians of the "unsearchable" (RSV) or "boundless riches" of Christ (Ephesians 3:8), the "riches of his grace" (1:7), the "riches of his glorious inheritance" (1:18), and the "immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (2:7) I think Paul knew he was getting to the end of his ability to express the inexpressible when he prayed that his fellow believers might have the power "...to comprehend ...what is the breadth and length and height and depth ...(of) the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge...." (3:18-19) Similarly, he wrote to the Corinthians, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him...." (1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV) And speaking of the "surpassing grace" (2 Corinthians 9:14) of God, Paul adds, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (9:15)
Superlatives? Yes, but, as Francis Bacon said: Of faith, hope, and charity there can be no excess. Even Thomas, the skeptic, was moved to superlative praise by the resurrection! If God can turn the crucifixion, our darkest hour, into the resurrection, our greatest hope, surely God can and will turn our own dark experiences into stories of hope and praise. AMEN
Quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.