When Resurrection Brings Terror Rather than Joy

Kasey & Russ in early 2001.

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Mark 16:8 (NIV)

Sometimes our reaction to resurrection isn’t joy. 

Sometimes it’s trembling and bewilderment (or as the NRSV translation says “terror and amazement”).   

This Easter, my family of four paused at this ending of the book of Mark before continuing on with the two endings that were added later on. 

My teen daughter jokingly calls the latter the “fan fiction endings” (alternate endings or additional info added by those who love the story rather than the original author).  She is a reader of fan fiction when it comes to her favorite novels.

Clearly the women's fear and silence was not the end of the story given how it unfolded in the other Gospels and in the book of Acts, but the earliest manuscripts stop at verse 8. 
 
And it got us wondering how many times in our own stories has God presented us with resurrection and we’ve been too scared out of our minds to accept it (let alone tell anyone!).  

This might be resurrection in the form of a new dream, calling, or relationship arising just when we thought all hope was dead and gone.  Maybe this has happened to you (or is happening to you) and instead of joy, your first response is trembling, bewilderment, and keeping it to yourself.  Why?      

Why might terror and amazement be our first reaction to the reality of resurrection?
 
It doesn’t fit our storyline.  We’re not expecting it.  The women were expecting to see Jesus’ body, that’s what they were prepared for.  Their biggest challenge  was how they would roll the stone away, that’s the story they were prepared for.  They were utterly unprepared for this. 

Years ago, my husband had just broken off an engagement.  He told God he was ready to be a lifelong bachelor, then less than two months later, I came along…terror and amazement.        
 
We don’t want to let go of our old storyline.  If we let go of what is familiar (even if it’s painful), what might that mean?  What might others think if something is voiced that is out-of-the-norm, completely other than what is expected?  They were just ordinary women going about their plan to anoint their loved one’s dead body.  Nothing out-of-the-ordinary.  Now they are told to be evangelists!  Women sharing the Good News with men—of the risen Christ—not so easy, definitely tremble-worthy. 
 
In Russ’ hidden handbook of dating, two months was not enough time in between relationships.  What might others think?  Could he let go of what others (and even a part of himself) thought? 
 
The new storyline seems too good to be true.  Who wouldn’t want to hear that their loved one has been raised from the dead?!  Sometimes when something is beyond our own imagining, it triggers all of our insecurities and fears.  Given women’s role in society, perhaps the women that early morning felt especially vulnerable in sharing such news.  Would they be believed and if not, what then?  Could they bear being mocked and belittled? 
 
Entering into another relationship for Russ, meant entering into another possibility of exhausting dysfunction, hurt, and rejection.  Staying to himself seemed easier, but after our first conversation, he could not resist the feeling of hope for a healthy relationship.  He had to decide if stepping out of hiding was worth the risk and ridicule. 
 
He decided to take the risk that comes with resurrection.  
After learning I had just had my wisdom teeth out, he walked up to me after a church service (he played in the worship band and I was the youth pastor) and asked how I felt after the surgery.  Awkward?  Yes. Did it trigger not only his, but all of my own insecurities?  Yes.  But, we will have been married for twenty years this October. 

As I write this, I’m staring into the face of another resurrection.  It has come while I have not yet totally released my grief and attachments to the old, dying storyline (what, how & who I had planned on being part of the unfolding of a dream I had pictured over fifteen years ago).  Much like Russ experienced twenty-one years ago, God has raised up a new dream before I have felt ready, causing much trembling and bewilderment! 
 
And like the women that morning, I have been afraid.  I have needed time to ponder whether or not the eyes of my heart have been deceiving me.  And I have needed to further loosen my grasp on the old while becoming aware of what has been triggered in me so as to open my hands and give my heart to the new.  As the Spirit of God gives me courage, I share the good news of this new dream with others.  And I imagine it will spread soon enough (as good news eventually does!). 
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When resurrection happens may your eyes be open to see it.  And may the terror and amazement lead not to shame but to solitude with the God who raises the dead and to community with spiritual companions who can give you courage.  May you trust that you will not remain afraid forever, but step boldly, no matter how clumsily, into the truth revealed by the resurrected Christ.    

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