Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The last Resurrection Egg is empty, just like Jesus’ tomb. Jesus rose from the dead, just like He said He would!
John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
I know this passage of Scripture is very familiar to most of us. The thing I am learning about familiar scripture passages is that there is always something more to learn when we read it again. If we give just a little time and wait a moment while reading the Word of God, I think we will see something new that we didn’t see before. I think that is the power of the Holy Spirit, reaching through the Word.
The first thing I noticed is that John makes a point of saying, “while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb...”. It was still dark. I wonder if she even fell asleep that night. Was she awake all night? Her sorrow was so deep. Was she counting the minutes until the moment the sabbath was over and she could go to the tomb? The sun hadn’t come up yet, and she went out in the dark. It was dark, literally and figuratively.
If we read the other Gospel accounts of this event, we know that Mary Magdalene was not alone at the tomb. Other women went with her early that morning. From Luke 24:1, we know, “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.”
Mary and the other women were going to finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial. Because He was crucified before the sabbath started, they had to wait until the sabbath was over. We know they expected to find Him in the tomb. They were in the middle of grief. They had watched Jesus die His torturous death. That had to be extremely traumatizing and horrific. The darkness would have matched the sorrow they felt. Even though the sun would be quickly rising with the dawn, as other Gospel writers mention, maybe that is why John describes the morning as dark.
I don’t know why John’s Gospel focuses on Mary Magdalene alone and he doesn’t mention the other women. Although, he does quote Mary using the plural “we” instead of saying “I” when she tells Peter and John that the tomb was empty. Why do you think God had John write this account this way? I would be foolish if I thought I could know the mind of God, beyond what He has told us in His Word, but I think it’s okay to look for the lessons God is communicating to us through His Word.
Since John’s Gospel is focused on Mary Magdalene, we should probably look closer at who she was. All we know conclusively about her, beyond her presence at the crucifixion, and here at the tomb, is that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. Luke 8:1-3 tells us, “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”
Some people say that Mary Magdalene was the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, or that she was the sinful woman whom Jesus saved from being stoned, but the Bible does not specifically say that she is either of those women. She was delivered from demons, though. I think we can assume that is why she was devoted to Jesus, following Him from one town to another and contributing support. Her life was obviously radically changed when Jesus delivered her of the demons. This is why we find her heading for the tomb so early in the morning. She is focused on Jesus.
John tells us she goes to tell Peter and himself that Jesus’ tomb is empty. They, quite distressed, run ahead of her to find out if she is correct. They find the tomb empty, but then they leave. Mary does not. She stays. Maybe she’s exhausted physically. We know she must be exhausted emotionally. She stands outside the tomb, crying. Still crying, she looks into the tomb and sees two angels, sitting where Jesus’ body had been. John describes the scene, “one at the head and the other at the foot.”
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She then realizes that someone else is there, too. She turns around and sees Jesus standing by her, but she doesn’t realize it is Him yet. He says to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
She assumes he is a gardener and asks him to tell her where he put the body of Jesus. Then Jesus simply says, “Mary,” and she immediately knows it is Him.
I think it is significant that He called her by her name. She didn’t recognize Him until He said her name. Think about your first name. I rarely get called by my first name. In my house, I am called Mama. It’s gotten so common to me that if someone else calls me by my first name, it seems a little strange to me. The other day my family and I went horseback riding and the man leading our procession of horses asked us all to tell him our names and I almost said, “mama” since my kids were with me. It felt strange to shout out, “Julia” because I rarely hear it.
I think names have a unique power. If we are in conversation with someone and they use our name in a sentence, it tells us they are listening to us; they are acknowledging us. It can make us feel validated and seen. On the other hand, if a stranger uses my name, it can cause anxiety. How do they know my name? I remember as a kid, my family and I were on vacation somewhere far from home and a man walked by my brother and said, “Hi Joel!” and my brother was very startled and baffled as to how he could know his name. It turned out that my brother’s name was on the back of his shirt. He had just forgotten which shirt he was wearing. Nowadays, it’s wisdom to not put our child’s name on anything so a stranger can’t pretend to know who they are. Usually, if someone knows our name, it’s because they know who we are. They know us. When Jesus called Mary by her name, He was saying that He knew who she was. He saw her and identified her. It was personal. She immediately knew it was Jesus by the way He said her name, too. I imagine she could feel His love for her by the way He spoke her name.
She turns toward Him and cries out, “Teacher!”
I can’t help but think this is what the Lord does in each of our lives. Before we recognize Him, He calls us by name. Isaiah 43:1 says, “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’”
The question is, when He calls our name, do we call Him Teacher, like Mary Magdalene did, or do we dismiss Him and ignore Him? By calling Him Rabboni, she was using the highest form of the word rabbi. It means that He is the top religious leader, according to HELPS- Word studies. It is a title of great respect. She is placing herself under His authority and leadership. She is saying that she follows Him.
John 10:3 recounts the time Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and He used an illustration of a shepherd to explain how He calls to His followers. Jesus said to them, “the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” Then in verse 27 He says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Jesus calls us by name because He wants us to follow Him. If we want to be His followers, then we will respond to His call and follow him.
Then Jesus tells Mary not to hold on to Him, for He has not ascended to the Father yet. He instructs her, “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.”
I think that the instruction the Lord gives Mary to go and tell is want He wants us to do, too. We are to go and tell others, “I have seen the Lord!”
I think we sometimes over complicate the Gospel message. Sometimes it might seem difficult to witness to other people. But we don’t have to make it complicated. All we really have to do is tell others that we have seen the Lord. What do I mean by that? All we have to tell others is how Jesus has worked in our lives. Ask yourself, where have you seen Jesus show up? How has Jesus helped you? What has Jesus done for you that you can tell others about? It doesn’t have to be anything super profound. It can be something simple even. These last two years of our country going through Covid-19 scares and lockdowns and confusion, what was our perspective when talking to people? Were we panicked and worried? Or did we tell others we weren’t troubled because we trust the Lord? When the stock market tumbles down and inflation looms larger and larger, do we complain and worry? Or do we tell people we’re not worried because the Lord always takes care of us? When we’ve gone through difficulties, that’s a good time to tell other people how the Lord “showed up” and took care of us. The key thing is, we have to be looking for Him to show Himself. We first have to notice how He takes care of us in order to share that with other people. I think if we look for Him, we will see Him moving and acting on our behalf. Then, once we see what He has done for us, we are to go and tell others, “I have seen the Lord!”
This Easter morning we are gathered together because we, too, want to see the Lord. We are here to place ourselves before the Lord in worship. We want to see Jesus. We are looking to learn more about Him and to praise Him. We are here to celebrate His resurrection! We are here to rejoice in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and because He lives, we too will live forever with Him, if we simply believe in Him. But maybe you are reading this sermon and you don’t feel like rejoicing. There is a lot of trouble in the world. Maybe you are grieving, weighed down with sorrow.
As I pointed out at the beginning of this sermon, Mary Magdalene set out to see the body of Jesus while it was still dark. It doesn’t seem like she had any hope that the tomb would be empty. Mark 16:3 tells us that the women, “they asked each other, ’Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’” They went to see Jesus even though they were steeped in grief.
When we are shrouded in darkness, that is the time to go to Jesus. I can imagine that the Christians living in Ukraine and Russia are having a very different Easter Sunday this year, than last year. How can people rejoice and be glad in the middle of war? I hope they are finding a way to celebrate Easter, because Easter is exactly what we need in the middle of trouble. Easter tells us that no matter the tragedy that happens, no matter how hopeless things seem, death and its awful effects are not the final answer. For the believer in Christ, we always have hope. We always have a reason to rejoice. The ultimate victory was won. Jesus triumphed over death and the grave. If we seek Him out when our souls are still dark and weighed down, He will call our name and remind us that He is still alive. The tomb is empty! Because He lives, we have hope, if we have Christ.
Mary Magdalene’s sorrow was turned into pure joy. She took off running to tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord! May we be people just like that. May we run to tell others how we, too, have seen the Lord work in our lives. This Easter Sunday we have so many opportunities to tell our hurting world that there is a hope that endures. Our world is ripe for a harvest. When it is so dark outside, Jesus’ light can shine even brighter. We still have a message to share with others: Jesus is alive! I have seen the Lord!
Let us worship the Lord with thanksgiving and joy! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Sing: King of Kings
I Will Rise
Christ is Risen
Pray: Lord Jesus, we rejoice this morning, full of joy and thanksgiving! We rejoice in Your victory! We rejoice that You have conjured death and the grave. We are full of thanksgiving because Your resurrection means we will be resurrected too. We rejoice that we can say, as Hosea said,
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Please empower us through the Holy Spirit to share with others the joy we have. Help us see all the ways You show up in our lives so we can tell others that we have seen the Lord! In Your name we pray, amen. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
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