Resurrection of Our Lord
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-18
Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What had come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)
John begins his gospel
with this promise of what is to come
and yet this morning,
Mary begins in darkness
both literal and metaphorical.
three days ago
she witnessed Jesus,
her teacher and friend,
her connection to God,
killed,
and at that time the light went out of the world.
But even in the darkness
she is drawn to him,
so while it is still dark
she goes to the tomb,
the tomb in the garden
where Joseph and Nicodemus had laid Jesus
then rolled a stone in front of the entrance.
It’s dark when she sets out,
the dark of the countryside,
there are no artificial lights,
no fires, it’s very dark.
Perhaps the light of the almost full moon guides her,
or perhaps every step of the way
is etched into her memory,
she can get to the tomb of her Lord without a light.
As she travels the sky begins to lighten,
the predawn turn of the sky,
the sun isn’t rising yet,
but it’s about to
and it’s just enough
so that when she arrives at the tomb
she can see that the stone
that has been placed in front of the tomb
has been moved,
this can’t be good,
so she turns and rushes back to the disciples,
to Peter and the other disciple,
we’ll call him John.
As she runs the sun starts to come up,
just a sliver on the horizon,
and when she reaches Peter and John
she cries out the news
that Jesus is no longer in the tomb
(did she pause to look in?
or did she assume this was the case given the stone?
we don’t know)
and in response Peter and John set off running,
first together
then John outpaces Peter.
As they run the sun climbs higher in the sky,
the rosy glow of dawn breaking over them
and it’s just enough light
so that when John reaches the tomb first
and leans over and looks inside
he can see the linen wrappings,
but maybe it’s not light enough
to enter the tomb,
so he hangs back.
By the time Peter arrives,
huffing and puffing,
the sun is up
and Peter impetuous as ever
goes straight into the tomb,
John follows and they see the wrappings lying there
and the cloth that had been over Jesus’ face
rolled up apart from the rest
and we are told they see and believe
(just what they believe isn’t specified,
perhaps that Jesus is truly not there,
we are told they don’t understand yet
that Jesus must rise from the dead)
whatever it is they see and believe
and then they go home.
Which doesn’t really help Mary
who came to them for help in the first place.
She has followed them back to the garden
and now it is her turn to look into the tomb
in the full light of day
and this time she sees two angels dressed in white
sitting where Jesus had been,
and so great is her grief
that this doesn’t seem to register as odd to her,
so single minded is her need to find Jesus
she even converses with them saying,
“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
these two don’t seem to be any help either,
so she turns away,
and as she turns she sees someone else,
she supposes to be the caretaker of the garden,
surely he will know where her Lord is,
“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
of course it’s not the gardener but Jesus
who is standing before her,
but she is still in the dark,
until that is, Jesus says one word,
her name,
“Mary”
and all of a sudden she knows who it is,
she recognizes that voice,
the voice of the one who knows her and cares for her
and It’s as if all of a sudden all the lights come on at once,
she turns and throws her arms around him crying “Rabbouni!”
Being known by Jesus
has broken through her grief.
Sometimes our grief is like the experience of Peter and John,
healing and understanding come gradually
like the sun rising.
Other times our grief is like that of Mary,
where we are so lost in it
that we converse with angels,
that Jesus is standing right behind us
and we don’t even realize it.
That is until someone who knows us and loves us,
sees us and calls us back to ourselves,
it is in the knowing and being known
that breaks through the grief.
It is Jesus calling us by name,
and like the sheep that know and follow the voice of their shepherd,
we know who it is that calls us,
and we rejoice.
Mary turns and clings to Jesus, with relief,
now things will go back to the way they were,
the nightmare is over
but that’s not possible
the world has been forever changed.
And rather than the end of the story
This moment at the empty tomb is just the beginning
Jesus tells her “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
What Jesus did
was solidify our relationship with God,
now we have as intimate a relationship with the Father in heaven
as Jesus does
and this is such good news
we are propelled forward,
from the empty tomb into the future
to share this good news with others,
the life, the light of all people prevailed,
and knows us by name,
and loves each and every one of us.
Easter morning starts in darkness
and ends in light,
starts with grief and ends with joy,
easter morning is not the end
but just the beginning.
We celebrate,
we’d love to stay here
but Jesus says go,
go tell others,
and so out we go
proclaiming “We have seen the Lord.”
because the light shines in the darkness
and the darkness did not overcome it.
Alleluia Christ is Risen,
Christ is Risen indeed, Alleluia