Resurrection Joy -- An Easter Message for 2022

 

          Up until this morning, this has been a very sad weekend. On Thursday, we gathered in this room to remember Jesus’ last supper. Then, we heard the story of Jesus’ betrayal by people he thought were his friends. On Friday, we heard the story of the events that led to Jesus’ death: his arrest, more betrayal, his trials before Pilate and King Herod, his sentencing, his crucifixion, his death, his burial. This has been a very sad weekend, and we haveremembered a very sad weekend.

            After Jesus was buried, his friends hid. They were sad and terrified. And, then something amazing happened….hear the story as we read from the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 1 through 18:

Proclamation of the Scripture            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. 

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!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 

Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 

He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 

as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 

 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 

(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 

Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb

and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

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.” 

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

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.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

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.’”

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.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.”

            Sometimes In our lives, we don’t see what is right in front of us. We have a saying: “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” We often take things for granted until they are unavailable.

We had this a lot during the Covid lock-downs. We missed weird little things – the smile the barista at the coffee shop gave you when they handed you your order – hugs – in-person exercises classes at the gym -- making spontaneous plans with friends and family members. We missed things we had previously taken for granted.

            When Jesus died, his friends were paralyzed. The finally recognized Jesus’ importance – they knew he was the messiah—and yet, he was dead. He was dead even though Jesus had access to the power of God, he was capable of resisting, he was capable of overpowering the guards, overpowering the Roman army. Jesus was dead. They had killed the savior of the world. People… us…we had killed the savior of the world.

            And, the disciples and friends of Jesus were in a so much pain it was like a living hell. They hid away in a room together, crying…moaning…paralyzed with grief. They couldn’t believe Jesus was dead, and yet they had witnessed his death with their own eyes…they watched him cry out in pain…they watched him bleed and struggle on the cross. They watched. …and therefore, they really knew he was gone.  Jesus was dead.

            Early on the Sunday morning following the crucifixion, Mary went to Jesus’ grave. She couldn’t sleep anyway. She probably had not eaten or bathed or combed her hair. She was bereft. And, Mary wanted to be close to where Jesus’ body was laid.

            But, when Mary arrived at the graveside, she witnessed a disturbing site. The grave was standing open! It would be like if we walked out to the Trinity Cemetery this morning and someone had dug down into the ground, pulling the soil out of a grave. Mary didn’t look into the grave…that would have been too much…she ran back to the room to tell the others. Simon Pete rand John literally ran back to the cemetery. When they arrived, they looked into the grave, looked into the tomb. And, they saw that the body was no longer in place. It was just gone.

            Mary stood outside of the tomb and cried. She looked not the tomb and saw two angels sitting where the body had laid. The sight of the angels did not deter Mary’s crying…she told them she thought Jesus’ body was stolen.  She didn’t understand.

            Jesus came and stood next to Mary. She was so upset that she didn’t recognize Jesus. She asked Jesus himself if he knew where the body had been taken. And then, Jesus said Mary’s name. Hearing her name allowed Mary to finally see what was right in front of her. Jesus was resurrected.

            For Jesus, death was not the end of his story. Nothing could stop Jesus from being with the people of the earth…not the Romans…not the temple authorities…not the cross…not the grave. God is more powerful than anything humanity can cook up.  God is the greatest power in the universe.

            The Easter Promise is extraordinary. Jesus has the power of life over death. God has the power of life over death. Jesus loves the people of the world so much that the tomb couldn’t contain him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. In the Easter Promise, we are reminded that God doesn’t hold grudges. God knows human beings are flawed. God knows human beings put Jesus to death on the cross. And, despite that knowledge, God loves us and forgives us. And, through God’s love and Jesus’s love, we receive grace, hope and life eternal.

            Thanks be to the God of love!

            Christ is Risen: He is Risen indeed! Amen.