Easter Sunday
John 20: 1-18
Trending
on Facebook these days, if you follow or are on Facebook is a sweet little
video of a baby who sees clearly for the very first time or at least it has
been on mine. I’d guess she is
about 10 or 11 months old. As her
mother tries to put on a pair of infant glasses the baby flails her arms and
twists her head in protest.
But the
mother persists and the glasses go on and when they do you see a changed
baby. You see a baby that sees her
mother and father clearly for the very first time. She is calm and she is grinning from ear to ear. It is such a tender moment, that moment of recognition of those who love
you and care so deeply for you. It’s
like you’re seeing someone for the very first time only with the same old set
of eyes.
I think
perhaps Mary Magdalene may have felt this way when she encountered Jesus for
the first time after his resurrection. She didn’t recognize him at first but when he called
her by name she knew instantly that it was Jesus, the one who took her in as a
friend and loved her in spite of all of her shortcomings.
Let us
now hear again the Easter narrative as recorded in the Gospel of John, the 20th
chapter. Let us witness what
happened on that very first 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, “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.
Who knows
what Mary was expecting on that early morning when she arrived at the tomb of
Jesus? But I bet you it probably was not what she saw. An empty tomb was NOT what she
expected. Can you imagine the
fear, the unknowing, the sadness, the panic all funneled into that one little
second when she sees that Jesus’ body 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 that someone had taken
Jesus away. He simply was not
there.
Well
Simon Peter and the other disciple waste no time. They hightail it to the tomb too, passing each other like a
tag team in the Olympics. The
beloved one reaches the tomb first.
With trepidation he looks in and see’s the linen’s. Then Peter arrives only seconds later
and dashes directly into the tomb and also sees the linen’s and the cloth that
had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.
It was rolled up so nice and neatly. But no Jesus! What
emotions could have flowed in their veins at that very moment? What thoughts must have darted through
their minds? Well we don’t know,
scripture doesn’t tell us. I
suppose it’s just not important at the moment.
What is
important is Mary. Faithful
Mary. Loving Mary. Grieved Mary begins to weep. She peers once again into the empty tomb
and this time sees only angels quietly sitting in the place where Jesus’ body
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 in the tomb. In between the tears she says, “They’ve
taken my Lord away and I don’t know where.”
Then he
calls her name, “Mary”. She turns.
And 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 the
garden but had Jesus, her friend, her savior beside her. He who was tortured and maimed was now
made whole. He who once was dead was now alive. In the calling of her name she need no longer lament, her salty
tears can be transformed into tears of sweet joy.
This is
such a tender scene isn’t it? You
wonder how long it lasted before she went back to tell the disciples.
But, of
course, the inevitable happens. The next morning comes like it always does and
the question in Mary’s mind could have been, ‘Now What?’ Was this all a dream? Now what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to live my life now
that I have seen the risen Jesus, now that I have heard his voice? In a nutshell for Mary he’s back, but
his return does not constitute a return to the way things were, far from it. Everything was different now.
This is
our Christian narrative. It begins
with incarnation, when God becomes flesh in Jesus and culminates with his death
and resurrection. With
Christ’s resurrection everything is different. We see differently because we know that dawn follows
darkness, that spring follows winter, and that crocus bloom after
dormancy. That’s
resurrection. Christ’s
resurrection cannot possibly leave you in the same place if you take it seriously. Like grace, as author, Anne Lamott says,
it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.[i] It simply cannot.
Jesus’
resurrection does not leave us standing at an empty tomb wringing our hands, weeping
our eyes out. What would be the
point of that? Resurrection asks
us, ‘What is life?’ “What is my life, what is your life?” ‘How will you choose
to live the life that you are given no matter what has happened to you?’ How will you play the proverbial hand
that has been dealt to you? Resurrection offers us hope and a new way to
envision the future so that whatever life hands you, you can prevail, because
you know life follows death.
You
know, a lot of people live lives of missed opportunities and broken dreams. They simply cannot envision hope or freedom
or a future that can possibly bring them any sort of joy or justice to this
world. They linger in the darkness
without ever coming out of the tomb and accepting the gift of resurrection light
so they can see anew and that is lamentable.
Sometimes it’s hard, I know that. This is a very upsetting world and nation in which we live
right now. I can hardly stand to
turn on the news, turn on my computer or pick up the paper. Each day brings new events and there is
so much to absorb that I am pained, weary, and angry. The bombings, the terrorism, the
shootings close to home, the possible loss of affordable healthcare, the rise
in anti-Semitism and the nemesis of cancer and addiction…it is hard to find
hope when really everything seems bleak and discouraging.
A fellow UCC church in Virginia, Little River UCC had its
Holy Week sign announcing services spray-painted with a swastika. A Holy Week sign!?! And the Jewish
Community Center there had additional vandalism done to it. When did we, as a populace become so filled
with hatred once again? What has unleashed the powers of hate rather than love? Yet in the face of all of this they
didn’t cancel services, they chose to hold a vigil together to bring about
healing and to come together as a community of strength. They chose the way of love. They chose to take this malevolent
action and turn it into something healthy and healing. This, my friends, is resurrection.
And this is exactly why we need to remember the promises of
Easter today. This is why we need to understand the resurrection of Jesus Christ
as a way of living in this whacked out world. His resurrection gives us hope that there is a tomorrow, that
justice can be the norm, that love can override hatred, and that life can
follow death. So that when we wake
up and are tempted to say, ‘now what’ we can turn that phrase and say, ‘what
now?’ What can I do to change this world? What can I do to change my life? What can I do to live into the boldest
statement that I can ever make, ‘Christ is Risen?’
So be at peace this Easter day and live into hope not fear,
love not hatred, joy not sorrow.
And may the spirit of God be present for you each and every day of your
life.
Amen.
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