The abruptness of the ending, the amazement of the women, the lack of resolution and words to explain what all this might mean, suggest that Mark is describing an experience of deep mystery. An experience you had to be there to get. What is mystery but something that is obscure and puzzling; inexplicable; or something not easily knowable except by divine revelation.
Children of the Enlightenment that we are, we want our truth in the form of who, what, when, and where—because knowable facts are what comprise truth. And “mystery” is hard for us because we have trouble with loose ends and a lack of resolution. And yet—haven’t most of us caught a glimpse of mystery crackling just below the surface of life—experienced a moment of profound joy or beauty, of dazzling insight, or of a holy presence. We struggle for words to explain what we’ve experienced….saying, “I know this sounds crazy, but”….or “I can’t really describe what happened but it was a little like this—no that’s not quite right”—we can’t find words adequate to the depth of the experience; sometimes we just keep the experience to our self because it’s so hard to articulate what happened inside of us.
In the same way we can’t really know what happened at the Resurrection to those who experienced the empty tomb.
Mystery that it was and is, we do know something Big happened. Something Big enough that the dispirited disciples were empowered to move forward after Jesus’ death, despite their sorry response to his crucifixion. Something Big enough that we are still telling the story more than 2000 years later. Something Big enough that we are bold to believe in life and new life, in hope and redemption, even in the face of whatever the world throws at us, even in a world where everyone dies.
The truth of the Resurrection is not in the details of what, where, when, who and how. The truth of the Resurrection is an article of faith—that God indeed has the last word. That Jesus’ ignominious death on a cross is not the end. That even out of tragedy new life can sprout. That weeping in the night can turn to joy in the morning.
