“Her name was Carol. She was the organist at her church. She was an outstanding musician, but she did something no organist should ever do. She overslept on Easter morning and missed the sunrise service. She was so embarrassed. Of course, the minister and the church forgave her. They teased her about it a little, but it was done lovingly and in good fun.
However, the next Easter, her phone rang at 5:00 AM in the morning. Jolted awake by the loud ringing, she scrambled to answer it. It was the minister, and he said, "Carol, it’s Easter morning The Lord is risen!
. . .And I suggest you do the same!"
The message is clear: We too can be resurrected. Christ shares his resurrection with us. He rises, and so can we. We too can have new life. We too can make a new start. We too can rise out of those tombs that try to imprison us!”[1]
And to see Him all we have to do is to hear Him calling us.
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Today is Resurrection Sunday. We are an Easter People. That is the Good News! Especially with what took place over Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, through Easter Morning. It is called the Liturgical Paschal Triduum. These where three days that changed the world forever! We just have gone through them. Maybe we have changed. And there is always goodness. Sometimes, we have to look harder to find it than we would like to but there is always goodness and “Godness” everywhere.
One of the things that they required of us in seminary was to do a spiritual reflection on the events that happen in our lives and to look for where is the Holy Spirit in all of it. Where is God in all of this? In the chaos of these turbulent times, the love of the resurrected Christ Jesus is needed and is necessary more than ever. But we first must hear Him to bear witness to him. Where do you hear Jesus in your life?
In the Gospel of John, the execution of Jesus takes place the day before Passover – a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It referred to the sacrifice of a lamb in Egypt when the people of Israel were slaves. They smeared the blood of the lamb on their doorposts as a signal to God that he should “pass over” their houses when He destroyed all the first born of Egypt (Exodus 12:13). Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted 7 days. There were many regulations given concerning the observance of Passover. Passover was to be observed in “a place which the Lord your God will choose.” This implied the sanctuary of the tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus is actually crucified on the Day of Preparation when preparation for celebrating the Passover were made, including the slaughtering of the Passover lambs (19:14).[2] Maybe that is why Jesus is called the Lamb of God? A Lamb slaughtered for all of humanity? ALL OF US.
Passover was a special sabbath, and the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies of the crucified victims to remain on display during the festival -- which was the custom – for the bodies to remain on display. So, the body of Jesus was taken down hastily and placed in a tomb on the Jewish Day of Preparation, which on this occasion was a Friday afternoon.[3]
And now two days have gone by since His burial. It is Sunday the first day of the week. The sabbath is over. So, the disciples now would have been free to visit the tomb. Mary Magdalene early on Sunday morning is making her way to the tomb, you may very well imagine how upset and distraught she must have been already but discovers the tomb to be empty. From her perspective, wouldn’t you have just freaked out? After all, Jesus only a short while ago was triumphantly riding a donkey into Jerusalem with a welcome fit for a king. Jesus has been through a mockery of a trial, beaten, crucified, buried hastily in a tomb, and now He is gone.
“2So 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.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth [4]that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.”[5]
The scripture implies that both Simon Peter and the Disciple who Jesus loved witnessed the empty tomb (spoiler alert: they were not expecting an empty tomb) and yet believed -- but did not really understand the fulfilment of the scripture that Jesus must first be killed let alone rise from the dead. So, they go home.
Mary Magdalene gets the distinction of being the first person to see the Risen Christ. This whole story has her love written all over it. She going to the tomb; she had taken her message to Peter and to John – that it was empty, she must have been left behind when they raced to the tomb because when she got there they were gone. Love, Love, Love. Mary stays. She stood weeping outside the tomb. Her entire conversation with the man she thought was a gardener shows her love. “if you are the man who has removed him, tell me where you have laid him. I will take him away.” Love, Love, Love. How on earth was she going to do that? Where would she take him? How could she carry him? She is the only one there. Perhaps she had not thought of all these issues. Her one desire was to weep her love over the dead body of Jesus.
Jesus knows his own, calls them by name, and they know his voice. The Risen Jesus says “Mary.” And she recognizes who Jesus is when he speaks her name! And Jesus sends her out as the first Apostle!
“…..go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.” Mary is commissioned to tell the other disciples and she obeys the command. The story is complete. But here is a KEY POINT: Mary is to tell Jesus’ brethren the message of the ascension, not simply of the resurrection. In the Gospel of John, the death, resurrection, and ascension establish the glorification of the Son, the return to God -- the triumph over evil forces, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to his followers. Easter is then complete at Pentecost.[6]
Mary had been so caught up in the events of the last three days and her own grief that she did not even recognize the Risen Jesus by sight. However, Mary heard the call of our Lord Jesus and followed his commands. We are called to listen for the voice of the master in our daily lives, and to follow his commands so that his love may be spread around the world. Let us pray.
Dear Risen Jesus,
May we have the kind of love that Mary demonstrated as one of your first apostles,
May we have the kind of tenacity that Peter and the disciple that you loved had when they raced to your empty tomb. And eventually figured out what was going on.
May we rise up out of the tombs that imprison us!
And May we have the ability to hear your voice when you call, to see you in all around us, and to follow your command.
AMEN.
References [1] https://sermons.com/search/results?term=Easter%20Day&category=sermon&type=Year%20C&page=1&sermon_filters=Illustrations [2] New Illustrate Bible Dictionary, 447. [3] A Lector’s Guide and Commentary, 160. [4] Barclay, William. The Gospel of John (Vol 2). 269. [5] John 20:2-10 [6] Craddock, Fred B. Preaching through the Christian Year. 226.
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