If you mention the word theology to some people, they are liable to turn up their noses and imagine scholarly studies, containing shelf upon shelf of dusty and abstruse volumes, pored over by desiccated scholars who habitually dwell in the higher realms of abstraction. But it is possible to study theology through art.

The artistic traditions of the eastern and western Churches portray the resurrection differently. We in the west are very concerned with history and with events. We like to try and freeze the resurrection into an event.

The fact that there is no description in scripture of the process of the resurrection, far from inhibiting western artists, has given their imaginations free rein. You may well be familiar with the spectacular depictions of Christ emerging from the tomb in various states of undress, radiating power and majesty brandishing the standard of the resurrection, a red cross on a white ground, before him.

The Eastern Orthodox tradition does not show the event so much as its effect. The finest ikons show a majestic Christ, springing down amongst the ranks of the faithful dead, drawing Adam and Eve up in a glorious chain dance of joy. Christ lays hold of them all, and in the Spirit, draws them into the communion he enjoys with the Father, a communion that even death cannot break.

Jesus’ mission was physical. He reached out and touched especially those excluded from the communion of society; those who followed him had also, in some way, been touched by him. He had laid his hands on them, drawn them away from their nets, from their tax offices, from their homes and from their families.

His touch had caused them to leave everything and follow him. Their despairing conviction when faced with his death was that they would never again know his touch. The withdrawal of Jesus from their lives may involve their losing touch with each other.

When the women went to the tomb with spices, on that first Easter morning, it was to embalm the body. They did not want it to wither away. They wanted to preserve it, to hold on to it, to stay in touch with it. But the precious body of the Lord was not there.

Mary Magdalene meets the risen Christ when she has turned away from the tomb and left everything behind her. Jesus discloses himself to her by greeting her, by calling her by name. The spontaneous reaction that this evokes is the desire to hang on; she falls at his feet and clings to him. It is as if she wishes to ensure that he stays there firmly planted in her midst. He will only stay there if she hangs on to him. If she clutches at him.

The message of the resurrection is that Christ still lays hold of us. The way we can stay in touch with him is by allowing ourselves to be touched by him and by bringing his touch to others.

The only person who declines to touch him, as we know, is in fact Thomas. Thomas was the one who clung to the literal reality of the death of Jesus. For Thomas, the wounds were real. When confronted with the risen Christ, he declines the invitation to place his hands in the marks of his sufferings. There is no need. Thomas confesses that Jesus has laid hold on him; the risen Christ has touched him when he utters those powerful words – ‘My Lord and my God.’

The lesson that the earliest generations of Christians learned is necessary for us too. We need to allow ourselves to be touched by Christ, to allow ourselves to be drawn into communion with him and by him.

The Welsh poet R. S. Thomas has a line in one of his poems, entitled ‘Pilgrimages’:
He is such a fast
God, always before us and
Leaving us as we arrive.

We might often imagine ourselves pursuing an elusive God, trying to find him as the treasure in the field. The message of the resurrection is that he finds us. The seekers at the tomb could not find Jesus until he had found them. Resurrection is allowing ourselves to be found by God. Easter is allowing ourselves to be found by Christ.  All we have to do is to listen to that gentle calling of our name.

A happy and blessed Easter to you all.

Your friend and Rector

Matthew Tregenza