Devotion for Easter Sunday, Year B (Humes)

Above:  The Angel in the Empty Tomb

Image in the Public Domain

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

MARCH 31, 2024

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Acts 2:42-47 or Job 19:7-27c

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Mark 16:1-8

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Ah, that these words of mine were written down,

inscribed on some monument

with iron chisel and engraving tool,

cut into the rock for ever.

This I know:  that my Avenger lives,

and he, the Last, will take his stand on earth.

After my awaking, he will set me close to him,

and from my flesh I shall look upon God.

He, whom I shall see will take my part:

these eyes will gaze on him and find him not aloof.

My heart within me sinks…

You, then, that mutter, “How shall we track him down,

what pretext shall we find against him?”

may well fear the sword on your own account.

There is an anger stirred to flame by evil deeds;

you will learn that there is indeed a judgment.

–Job 19:23-29, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

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In the context of the Book of Job in its final form, the continued faith of Job, afflicted with divine consent by the loyalty tester (the Satan) then rejected by surviving relatives and insulted repeatedly by so-called friends, makes little sense.  The Avenger/Vindicator/Redeemer, or kinsman-redeemer who was to avenge innocent blood, had to be God, for whom the alleged friends presumed to speak.  One irony in the Book of Job, in its final form, is that we who read Chapters 1, 2, and 42 know that Elihu, Zophar, Bildad, and Eliphaz were wrong when claiming that God protects the innocent, in Job’s case.  Yet Job still trusts in God.

The reading of this passage on Easter Sunday makes sense.  Did not the resurrection of Jesus vindicate him?  And does it not vindicate we who, in faith, accept his resurrection?

Job’s attitude, in contrast to the forgiving spirit of Jesus on the cross, is understandable.  Job’s attitude also vindicates the human need for justice.  God will judge and show mercy as God deems appropriate.

The Gospel of Mark originally ended with,

…and they were terrified

at the empty tomb.  Such fear was understandable; the women at the tomb had no hindsight regarding the resurrection of Jesus.  Hindsight was impossible at the time.

I try to minimize how much I anthropomorphize God.  Some of it is unavoidable, given human perspective.  To a great extent, God is, for lack of a better word, other–not quite unknowable, but still other.  The somewhat unknowable other terrifies us sometimes, even in showing extreme mercy, for we do not understand.  With hindsight, however, we can find reasons to rejoice, not fear.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 26, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, U.S. JOURNALIST, TRANSLATOR, AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDRA GIACINTO LONGHIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TREVISO

THE FEAST OF PHILIP DODDRIDGE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VIRGIL MICHEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ACADEMIC, AND PIONEER OF LITURGICAL RENEWAL

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/06/26/i-know-that-my-redeemer-liveth/

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