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April 5, 2020
Sister Eloise Rosenblatt, RSM
We were a group of biblical graduate students from Jerusalem, fortunate on our trip to Egypt. Our guide was the renowned French Egyptologist Father Henri Cazelles. Following the Nile, we bused our way from Cairo in the north, to Luxor and then to Aswan in the south, clambering up, into and out of at least 15 empty tombs. Pyramids had darkened, narrow entryways to vertical shafts with one-way stairs leading to more spacious chambers above, 30-watt bulbs strung along the ceiling. The dank air was oppressive and suffocating.
I was pretty sick of empty tombs when the trip was over. I didn’t come away feeling close to individual pharaohs, grasping the significance of their reigns, or deciphering the carved hieroglyphics proclaiming their great deeds. Grave robbers over centuries had stripped the tombs of sarcophagi linings, face masks of intricately wrought gold and lapis, scarab jewelry, fabulously carved furniture, splendid armaments leaving nothing but amazing frescoes still alive with color. I had to wait until the King Tut exhibit came to San Francisco to see a sample of riches that were originally buried with pharaohs.
The Gospel writers were more familiar than I am with the Egyptian death cult, body mummification, and tradition of filling the tomb with objects to honor a pharaoh. A tomb stuffed with valuables was assurance that their ruler was well equipped for his next life beyond death.
The tomb of Jesus is a stark contrast with the grave- monuments of pharaohs. In the Gospel, there’s an irony in the repetition of tomb seven times like a mantra, or poetic incantation. But it’s a very different tomb than the pyramids. The empty tomb, in those brief hours, generates consternation among the disciples. Its emptiness disrupts expectations. Its discovery generates a new relationship among the followers of Jesus. What are aspects of this new relationship?
First, the tomb of Jesus is open to everyone to see that he is not buried there. The stone is removed from the entrance. Unlike the tombs of pharaohs, Jesus’ tomb is not intentionally hidden, sealed, or filled with valuables; it’s not his resting place or his memorial.
Second, Mary Magdalene, a woman, is the messenger of the new, unexpected story to Simon Peter, head of the disciples. Jesus is somewhere else. He’s not in the tomb. Contrary to patriarchal reflexes, Peter has no ready answer for her or explanation for her claims.
Third, her own urgency – she runs back to the men – infuses them with her energy.
They “went out” and “came” and both of them “ran” as she did. She gets the men to break out of the walls of their confinement and fear, to move along.
Fourth, there is an odd competition between the men. Sulpician Father Ray Brown and Immaculate Heart Sister Sandra Schneiders have analyzed it and conclude it shows the Johannine community gave primacy to the teaching, leadership and spiritual tradition associated with “the disciple whom Jesus loved” – the enlightened interpreter originating the Johannine tradition. But the yielding also affirmed the ecclesial authority of Simon Peter. The yielder’s followers identified themselves as the “church of Peter.”
Fifth, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” got to the tomb first. In this way, he and Mary Magdalene share a unique and personal discovery of the tomb as foundational witnesses. Those who come after them see through their eyes and hearts as “disciples whom Jesus loved.”
Sixth, the tomb is emptied out of everything except the burial cloths that wrapped his body, and a cloth that covered his face. There is nothing to retrieve. No body at all. No weapons. No chariots. No jewelry. Only that uniquely-rolled- up face cloth in a separate place. It seemed an orderly, calm departure, not a stealthy removal of a body.
Seventh, it is “the disciple whom Jesus loved” who ran, arrived at the tomb, waited, bent down, looked in, went in, saw and believed – and waited for a fuller understanding.
This is the end of visits to the tomb. From now on, the disciples meet Jesus in Jerusalem, in Galilee, on the water, and on the beach at the Sea of Tiberias. Easter is a eucharistic celebration. Jesus is alive everywhere in the world. The tomb is empty.
Mercy Sister Eloise Rosenblatt is a Ph.D. theologian and an attorney in private practice in family law. She lives in San Jose.