John 20: 1-18
We are faithful witnesses to the resurrection because we
have come here today seeking to hear and experience the joy and excitement of a
story that is over 2,000 years old.
And, each year, the story does not disappoint us. Our alleluia’s ring out, lilies dot the
communion table, the children are dressed in their pastel finery, a bonnet or
two still emerges and the scent of chocolate bunnies and Peeps are in the
air! Christ has risen, and we
witness that miracle once again today.
Our denomination, the United Church of Christ has a slogan
that reads, “Our Faith is over
2,000 years old, our thinking is not.”
Excellent point because what good is an irrelevant faith? What purpose would it serve if this
resurrection story was just ‘an idle tale’ as the apostles in Luke’s Gospel
first believed it to be? (Luke 24:11)
Let us
now place ourselves in the Gospel of John, the 20th chapter and
witness what happened on that first Easter morning…
Early on the first day of the week, while
it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had
been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other
disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
Then Peter and the other disciple set out
and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple
outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the
linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came,
following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,
and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings
but rolled up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who reached the
tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not
understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples
returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in
white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the
other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to
them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid
him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,
but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you
weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
Supposing him to be the gardener, she
said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid
him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said
to him in Hebrew, (ra-BO-nai) “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me,
because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to
them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and
she told them that he had said these things to her.
Just
like the beloved birth narratives of Jesus that we so adore with the wise men
and shepherds, the stars, angels, manger, we love to proclaim Jesus’
resurrection story over and over and over again because this story, even more
than Jesus’ birth is the heart, the nucleus, and the genesis with a small g
of our Christian faith. We read
into Jesus’ birth excitement and wonder because we know the end of the
story. And the end of the story is
today, Easter Sunday. Although, we
know it’s really not THE end, it’s only the beginning.
Mary
from Magdala awakens early; it was still dark. She takes oils to anoint Jesus’ body, she wanted to complete
what she wasn’t able to accomplish on Friday because it was the Sabbath. When she arrives at the tomb she sees
that it’s empty. You can imagine
the fear, the unknowing, the sadness, the panic all funneled into that one
little second when she sees that Jesus was not there. She wastes no time and runs back to Simon Peter and the
other disciple, the beloved one to tell them the news, or rather exclaim to
them that someone has taken Jesus away.
Neither
do Simon Peter and the other disciple waste any time. They run also to the tomb, passing each other but the
beloved one reaches the tomb first.
He looked in and saw the linen’s.
Then Peter arrives only seconds later and goes directly into the tomb
and also sees the linen’s and the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’
head. It was rolled up neatly and
laying aside. The beloved also now
enters the tomb. And it is
recorded that he believed, right then and there.
But
Mary. Faithful Mary. Loving Mary. Grieved Mary begins to weep. She peers once again into the empty tomb only this time she
sees angels gently sitting in the place where Jesus should have been.
Her
tears flowed, but then she hears a voice, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are
you looking for?” She didn’t turn
around to see who had just spoken to her.
She was fixated on the cavernous void of the tomb. In between the tears she said, “They’ve
taken my Lord away and I don’t know where.” She thought he was the gardener and pleaded with him
to tell her where he had taken Jesus’ body.
“Mary”,
Jesus says. She turns. “Teacher,”
she says. At that moment, that very
tender moment, she knew. She
probably didn’t understand but she knew that Jesus was no longer dead but
alive. She knew at that point that
she was not left alone in this garden but had Jesus beside her.
In this
moment the tectonic plates of the world shifted and it has never been the same
since. You cannot deny that the
resurrection did not cast a different light in this world. Out of the tomb came life. He who was tortured and maimed was now
made whole. He who was once dead was now alive. Indeed, if you believe, then it has the power to transform
your life in ways that you can’t even image.
You’re
probably thinking, ‘come on preacher, the world really hasn’t changed’. The Romans probably got up the next
morning without remorse and prepared the crosses for a new set of criminals and
troublemakers. Wars have
commenced, hatred and injustice remain, people starve as the eyes of the
indifferent gaze at them. What in
the world has changed since the first Easter morning?
The
question is not what has changed.
The question is who has changed?
My question is, have I changed?
Your question is, have you changed? Theologian Peter Gomes once
said, “Easter is not just about Jesus; it is about you. He has already claimed his new life;
now it’s your chance to claim yours.”[i] How
will you proclaim your new life?
How can Easter possibly change you?
It
gives you new vision with which to see.
All the
while what you are really gazing at might be, in reality, without the lens of
the kaleidoscope, a trash heap.
But there can be beauty that arises out of despicable places. Who among us at one time or another in
our lives have not been able to see hope?
Who among us has not been able to envision the next minute yet alone the
next few years? Who among us has
not been in the cold dark tomb, just like Jesus? I suspect I am not the only one in this sanctuary.
The
apostles moved out of their place of fear and sorrow and carried on witnessing
to God’s great love and living accordingly. You can too. You can be changed by the twist of your lens because
the resurrection has given you new life too. The apostle Paul says, ‘anyone who belongs to Christ is a
new person. The past is forgotten
and everything is new.’ (2 Cor 5:17)
Today
the tomb could not hold Jesus in death’s dark grips and neither can it do that
to you. Beauty from ugliness. Hope from despair. Life from death. Easter proclaims the mighty and
redemptive love of God when we can no longer see it for ourselves.
This is
our proclamation today.
“Hold
firmly”, Paul says, “to the message that I have proclaimed to you….If there is
no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has
not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain.” (1 Cor 15:2,13).
There
is no tomb dark enough or deep enough that we cannot climb out of and overcome
because Christ has claimed that victory for us. Hold firmly to it.
The
lens of Easter through which we look at today is how we shall view all that
happens to us in our lifetime.
This is no idle tale. Hold
firmly to it.
Let us witness resurrection today and then practice it each
day of our life.
And you thought the resurrection was just a story!
Amen!
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