Sermon Based on : John 20. 1-18; Acts. 10. 34-43; 1 Corinthians 15. 19-26
Preached on: – Easter-21.04.19
The resurrection of Christ is the crucial point of human history.It should be no surprise then that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most if not the most attacked claim of the Bible. All four gospels record the story of resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will mainly focus on John’s record.
John presents us with the narrative that lies at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus, who was crucified, has been raised. We see as Mary, Peter, and an unnamed disciple discover that Jesus’ tomb is now empty; the outward and visible sign that Jesus has conquered death and a new creation has begun. And we are witnesses to the moment when Mary meets her risen Lord. Her grief turns to joy and she brings to us the good news that has been proclaimed throughout the ages, “I have seen the Lord.”
Darkness and light are important themes in John’s Gospel from the prologue to Nicodemus visiting Jesus at night to Jesus’ claim, “I am the light of the world.” Mary came to the tomb while it was still dark — perhaps she simply couldn’t wait until daylight.
Mary Magdalene has broken through her fear in order to tend to the body of her teacher and friend. All gospel accounts of this moment vary on some points. But what is consistent is the day and that it is Mary Magdalene who is the first to go to the tomb.
When Mary finds that the stone has been removed she jumps to conclusions. Her perception of what has happened is that someone has entered and stolen the body. But the author does not tell us if she entered or even looked in the tomb. Did she really know that the body of Jesus was not there? (How often do we jump to conclusions about God’s actions in our lives?) Nevertheless, she runs back to tell Peter what she believes has happened.
Then we are told about the experiences of Peter and the unnamed disciple identified only as “the one whom Jesus loved” most probably John.
By their experiences we should note that the tomb is truly empty when Peter and then the other disciple enter. They saw nothing except the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head.
John tells us that the beloved disciple “saw and believed.” But what did he believe? It could be that he believed Mary was correct — someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Or did he believe what Jesus had said the night of their last meal together, that Jesus had “conquered the world!” (John 16:33) and thus resurrected from the dead.
Peter and John -the two go home. There are no shouts of joy, no celebration. The emptiness of the tomb does not seem yet to have made a difference. “For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead”.
They saw and believed but yet would not know the truth about what they have seen, in part because they do not give testimony to what they have witnessed. To believe in who Jesus is also requires acting on that belief, particularly in the form of being a witness. Peter and the beloved disciple return to their homes after the event at the tomb without saying a thing about what they saw. This Gospel, however, is not content with leaving the individual encounter with Jesus at the level of that alone. To be a true believer, a disciple, a follower, of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel is to then give testimony or become witness to what you have experienced in encountering Jesus, not only for the sake of making it true for yourself, but also for the sake of those who would hear and have their own encounter with Jesus.
The focus returns to Mary standing outside of the tomb. Weeping, she does, this time, enter the tomb.
But,still convinced that her Lord was dead and his body had been stolen. Then, looking in, she saw two young men, “angels” we read, sitting inside. “Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked her. In the early light of dawn they seemed to be looking not at her, but at someone behind her. Turning, she saw a man standing there whom she thought to be the gardener, who asked her the same question, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
There is a gentle rebuke inherent in that twice-asked question. It is saying, “This is no time for weeping, but for rejoicing, praise and thanksgiving.” It implies that she could and should have known that. Jesus had clearly said several times, as the Gospels record, that he would rise again on the third day. One of the striking phenomena of the Gospels is the deafness of the disciples to the consistent revelations of Jesus concerning his resurrection. He had great difficulty convincing them that he was going to die in the first place. It was only as they saw the opposition closing in on him that they realized his words were true. But even then none of them seemed to grasp that every time he mentioned his death he also added that he would rise again on the third day.
But Mary was just like us! Have you ever found yourself in a distressing circumstance, when the sky seemed to come crashing down on you, and you immediately forgot all the promises of God? You felt sorry for yourself, you became anxious and upset. I have. We so quickly forget the promises of God.
Martin Luther once spent three days in a black depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. “Who’s dead?” he asked her. “God,” she replied. Luther rebuked her, saying, “What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die.” “Well,” she replied, “the way you’ve been acting I was sure He had!”
Many of us have been caught in that trap. This is also what had happened to Mary.
But Jesus has to speak but one word to her to open her eyes. We remember what Jesus said before: “[The shepherd] calls his own sheep by name … they know his voice.” (John 10:3, 4). With indescribable tenderness he simply uttered her name — Mary. Mary instantly recognized his voice, just as any one of us would recognize a loved one’s voice on the telephone. Hearing her name, Mary cried out, “’Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).” She seized him by the feet and began to weep tears of joy.
Jesus said to her, “Do not hold onto me, but go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Believers are granted the same relationship with God as Jesus has. He was a Son by nature, but we by adoption. We have come full circle from the prologue’s promise that all who RECEIVE & BELIEVE the Word are given power to become children of God. (John 1:12) So Mary went and told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” She was the first resurrection preacher in the Bible.
Unlike the synoptic gospels that begin at dawn, John’s tale begins in the dark, the absence of light. This is the writer who, at the opening of his gospel took us not to a stable, but to the very opening of creation, “In the beginning.” Could it be that John is taking us back, once more, to that primordial darkness when “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2). The author is echoing Paul’s declaration that in the death and resurrection of Jesus we are experiencing a new creation, “everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In the first creation story God drove Eve and Adam out of the garden. But in this new creation Jesus sends Mary out of the garden rejoicing. She is sent out to tell everyone the darkness has not overcome the Word made flesh who had lived among us. She had seen her Rabbi, and she now understood that she has seen “the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) “I have seen the Lord.” (John 20:18) Her message declares to us the new beginning that God has prepared for all of us.
In the name of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen