Scripture Reading John 20:1-18 from the Message
1 Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance.
2 She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, "They took the Master from the tomb. We don't know where they've put him."
3 Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb.
4 They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter.
5 Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.
6 Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there,
7 and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed.
9 No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
10 The disciples then went back home.
11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb
12 and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus' body had been laid.
13 They said to her, "Woman, why do you weep?" "They took my Master," she said, "and I don't know where they put him."
14 After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn't recognize him.
15 Jesus spoke to her, "Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?" She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, "Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him."
16 Jesus said, "Mary." Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" meaning "Teacher!"
17 Jesus said, "Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.'"
18 Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: "I saw the Master!" And she told them everything he said to her.
Meditation: In a Garden of New Life
Early on the first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene went to visit Jesus’ tomb. As the dawn started to spread across the sky, Mary was still grappling with the trauma of Jesus’ death. Her lord and savior, her best friend, the person who she changed everything in her life to follow, was dead. Mary was still in the midst of the very early stages of what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She replayed the events of Good Friday over and over again in her head. It was like she was still living those events. She was in shock – like many of us after the death of a loved one, Mary probably kept asking herself if she could have changed how that day unfolded – could she have stopped Jesus from being arrested? Could she have stopped the trial that condemned him to death? Could she have stopped the execution? Although we know Mary had no power to stop Jesus’ death, she doubted herself anyway.
So, when Mary arrived at the Tomb, she didn’t understand what she saw right in front of her eyes. Mary saw the empty tomb and deduced Jesus’ body was stolen. Her hysteria was amplified. First they killed Jesus, and then they stole his body!
Mary rushed to tell the disciples Jesus body was missing. Peter and another disciple went and checked the grave, and they saw evidence of the resurrection. They were excited and went to tell the others about the miracle that had taken place.
But Mary, poor Mary was distraught. She went back to the tomb and saw angels and still didn’t see signs of the resurrection. Jesus approached Mary and began talking to her and she still didn’t see signs of resurrection. She was blinded to who he was because she was so distraught.
Finally, when Jesus spoke her name, Mary saw him. She realized who he was. She understood he was resurrected. Her eyes were opened. The man she watched die on Friday was restored to life.
On the first Easter Sunday, almost two-thousand years ago, God showed that God’s love is more powerful than human failure. Most of the people Jesus came across just didn’t get it. The people of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, ran him out of town. The people of Jerusalem who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday turned against him just a few days later. The priests and Temple authorities didn’t accept Jesus’ teachings and wanted him out of the way. The Roman authorities killed Jesus rather than allow anyone to threaten their rule -- they were afraid Jesus would cause an insurrection against them. Many of the people who heard about Jesus in the first century or even heard and saw Jesus in the first century, just didn’t get it. God’s love is more powerful than human failure.
Despite all of the ways people fail to understand God’s intentions for us and our world, God still loves us. Despite all of the ways we mess us, God still loves us. In John 3:16, we are reminded: “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s one and only Son, that whoever believes in God shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves us. God loves us so much God shared Jesus with us. And, when the people of the first century put Jesus to death, God showed us that love overcomes death. God loves us so much that God resurrected Jesus. God loves us so much that God did not allow the last words of Jesus to be spoken from the cross. God loves us so much that God wanted us to know that nothing we can do is so awful we can be separated from the love of God.
When we say together the words of the United Church of Christ’s Statement of Faith – our common testimony – we proclaim that God comes to us “In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Savior.” Through Jesus, God has shared our common lot and has lived the mortal life of a person. And, through Jesus Christ, God conquered sin and death and reconciled the world to God.
This “reconciled” concept is important. It means that God doesn’t hold our sins and failings against us. Instead, when Jesus was on the cross, our sins died with him. And the resurrection of Jesus is a sign that “all is forgiven.” God loves and forgives us no matter what. God loved and forgave the people who put Jesus on the cross and God loves and forgives us when we fail.
So, on this Easter Sunday, we rejoice. God loves and forgives us. God doesn’t let anything stand in God’s way….not our failure to understand God’s plans….not our blindness to what is right in front of us…not our misgivings….not our failings. God loves and forgives us. God loves and forgives the people of our world.
Thank God for God’s love and grace on this Easter Sunday.
Christ the Lord is Risen today! Alleluia!
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