Remembering the First Easter

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”
Mark 16:6-7

Harvard lecturer and Presbyterian minister, Fredrick Buechner writes: “When you remember me, it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.

“For as long as you remember me, I am never entirely lost. When I'm feeling most ghost-like, it is your remembering me that helps remind me that I actually exist. When I'm feeling sad, it's my consolation. When I'm feeling happy, it's part of why I feel that way.

“If you forget me, one of the ways I remember who I am will be gone. If you forget, part of who I am will be gone. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." the good thief said from his cross (Luke 23:42). There are perhaps no more human words in all of Scripture, no prayer we can pray so well.”

The Luke’s tradition says that good thief, asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom. I am so powerfully drawn to his prayer. “Jesus remember me….” I’m suffering here for all my wrong doing and grief, sorrow and pain. Carry me with you when you travel to your Father; our Father. Don’t forget who I am when you get there.

I like to think that this is the Resurrection, Jesus did not forget the good thief—Jesus remembered him. And he remembered the women of great faith who never failed him. And Peter and James and John and all the rest of his disciples too, myself included, who failed him miserably. Jesus remembers all, no matter what we’ve done, no matter how horribly we fail him, not a one of us is ever entirely lost. No matter how hard we try, we can never completely disappear, especially when we are most absent from ourselves. Jesus remembers us and his kingdom, the Resurrection is not some future event to await patiently in our misery, but is alive in him here and now. Today.

On Easter we celebrate this mysterious and eternal truth for our living. We remember Jesus and his disciples and those world-altering days so very long ago. How somehow their memories of him left his mark on who they were. And how somehow he remembered each of them as his kingdom came, enabling them to see his face, hear his voice and know him deep within their hearts. He came, not as a ghost to them, but as someone who truly existed, offering consolation in their deep, deep sadness and disappointment. He appeared to them, real, even though death and the grave and despair and time stood between them.

So as we come this month to tell again the stories of Easter, remembering Jesus who remembers us; Jesus whose kingdom is come—with us on earth as it is in heaven. In this he returns to us across the centuries and miles. We meet him again and we know him. We see his face. Hear his voice. And know him speaking to our hearts. “Jesus remember me…” we pray. He remembers. Not a one of us is ever lost. Amen.