The texts for this Easter Sunday and the subsequent two weeks
of this series are John's resurrection accounts. It's hard for us to read
these accounts without also hearing the synoptic scriptures, but I've chosen
to try hard to shut out those other narratives and hear only John. Equally
challenging is to read this account as if for the very first time and hear
the freshness and drama that John draws us into.
John's account of Resurrection Sunday is winsomely realistic with an anecdotal feel that adds to the sense of the genuineness of this extraordinary story. It jumps from scene to scene and leaves so much out that we might want to know--just as a close friend would do when relating an exciting happening to us. There is no hint of manufacture or contrivance. Indeed the passage tosses up so many questions and provides only one answer--that Jesus
The Christ has died and is now alive--not in some metaphysical
analogous way, but simply and really. There is no attempt to analyze or process
this stunning truth here, just to tell the story and leave it to break upon
us, the reader, as it may.
Scholars tell us that John's Gospel may well have ended with
chapter 20 in its first edition, with chapter 21 being a later addition. Structurally
this could be so, since chapter 20 ends with an appropriate summary in verse
30. Chapter 21 then builds out the post-resurrection account to include a
specific focus on Peter, and again closes with an epilogue in verses 24 and
25. The Revised Common Lectionary breaks these scriptures into three blocks,
the first being 20:1-18. These verses tell the story of the empty tomb in
two scenes: Mary Magdalene, Peter and John discover Jesus' tomb is empty and
then Mary meets the risen Jesus at the tomb.
Mary in introduced to us as a lone figure, rising before dawn
to walk outside the city into a dark cemetery to work on honoring the dead
body of her fallen hero. It's a romantic scene of solo devotion and bravery.
Only the “we” in verse 2 betrays that Mary was not alone and suggest
that she was with other women as per the synoptic gospels. We can imagine
Mary retelling her account to John who reports it to us.
The stone is “removed” from the tomb. John has prepped
us in 19:41 that the tomb is in a garden cemetery. (How rich this imagery--connecting
us to the Eden garden where the first Adam fell, and here the “second
Adam” has triumphed and the healing of creation begins in another garden.
Jesus the Rock that was cracked is here breaking the rock tomb to bring everlasting
life!) Mary's reaction is to run to the disciples with Peter especially mentioned,
suggesting his leadership of the forlorn group. Peter sprints to the tomb
in his usual spontaneous way. “The other disciple,” normally understood
to be John humbly referring to himself, outruns him but deferentially waits
outside of the tomb until Peter arrives. They confirm the body is missing
from the tomb. There is no suggestion that any of them understand that Jesus
is alive, or even connect this turn of events with Jesus' many predictions
of His rising. What did John “believe” in verse 8? The narrative
does not demand anything more than the internal story line that he believed
Mary's account that Jesus' body is missing. Some commentators suggest that
John is here believing in the resurrection, but there is no need to think
so.
That the burial face cloth is neatly rolled up and set aside
with the other body wrappings is given particular mention is important. Grave
robbers would be unlikely to take the time to remove the sticky wrappings
at the scene of a crime, and grave desecrators would hardly respectfully roll
up the face cloth. The mystery in enjoined. There must be some other explanation.
John closes the first scene with an anticlimactic, “then
the disciples returned to their homes.” What else could they do? They
were both politically powerless and utterly discouraged. They ran flat out
to the cemetery but now we almost see them shuffling dejectedly away. Dealt
another blow, they are yet more broken and deserted. The disciples go back
to what is familiar-- home--a theme later picked up in 21:3.
The second scene shifts focus to Mary and the opening word “but”
powerful sets Mary's reaction to this calamity against the disciple's. Why
does she stay close to the empty tomb? What does she expect or hope to see
as she bends to peek into the low entrance to the cave-tomb? What devotion!
We should not miss John's ironic and countercultural elevation of a woman
as the most faithful and determined follower of Jesus, and Christ's revealing
himself as resurrected first to her. Once again, Christ elevates a woman to
prominence. As Jesus' mother Mary presides over Christ's first birth from
the life-giving womb, so another Mary witnesses His living deliverance from
this deathly tomb.
Her persistence is rewarded by a vision of angels. We might
see echoes of the angels appearing to the shepherds at His first birth. Perhaps
we are connected to the transfiguration (Jesus plus two angelic figures) or
to the three angels of the theophany to Abraham (Genesis 18). If so, there
are only two angels at first in view. Is there a third? As so often with angels,
they bring mild admonishment. Presumably they have a different perspective
on things--which is a way to introduce their message to us. For we are about
to have our perspective changed, too. Mary refers to Jesus as “my Lord”
to them. John reveals the third angel, and Mary has to “turn around”
to see Him. John quickly lets us into the secret: it's Jesus! Now we are in
on the secret as we join the narrator to watch Mary's reaction. How odd she
does not recognize Jesus. Is He so beaten and battered? Or is He unrecognizable
in His resurrection beauty? Or are Mary's tear-bleary eyes not seeing Him
well in the pre-dawn darkness? She just wants her dead Lord back and her request
to the supposed gardener is more endearing than practical. John is never short
on irony and here is Mary seeking the dead Jesus from the risen Jesus! Now
comes the grand reveal of the story as Jesus gives Mary her Lord--but alive!
Doesn't Jesus always give himself to us?
How significant is it that she only recognizes Jesus when He
speaks her name? As the first Adam named the animals and so established dominion
over them, so the second Adam names His children and establishes His lordship
over us.
Mary has to turn a second time. Was she previously turned slightly
away in deference when talking to a Jewish man? With such childlike familiarity
she turns full on to greet her Lord with a simple term of endearment: teacher!
They are immediately in familiar relationship. Jesus' next words imply that
Mary is at least trying to hold on to Jesus.
I honestly have no idea why Jesus tells her not to hold on to
Him, and His explanation is equally baffling. I've heard a few confident attempts
to explain this scripture, none of which I find convincing. As preachers,
perhaps it's as well to admit when we just don't understand a scripture. In
two scenes' time there is certainly no prohibition of touch to Thomas!
The account closes with Jesus sending Mary to tell good news.
Again, a women is sent to bring Jesus' words to men, to bring comfort to those
who need comfort, to call those whom He is calling. I am sure she would have
wished to stay with Jesus, but she is faithful and obeys His command.
The elder John, writing his Gospel for us, graciously uses Mary's
full name again, as if to honor her primacy in the most important moment in
Christian history.
How can we preach the resurrection story in a fresh way? There
is so much to preach in this moment--the high point of the Christian calendar--and
yet the scriptures and the story are so well known. Certainly there is nothing
wrong in simply remembering with our people, the great moment when death is
conquered and the new in-breaking Kingdom is seen in great power. Many churches
experience their largest attendance this Sunday. Alongside members and regular
attendees are the twice-a-year folk, and perhaps some visitors who have rarely,
if ever been into a church. It could be that some have fallen away from church
and are sampling again. I believe the story of the bewildered Peter and John,
and the grieving Mary Magdalene take center stage in this text, and their
story can resonate with everyone who has lost sight of Jesus. The point of
connection is the honesty that sometimes events and life situations seem devoid
of the tangible presence of God. The disciples are in trouble, their Lord
is dead, their world is in turmoil and God is nowhere to be found. The future
is utterly uncertain and all of God's promises seem like distant memories.
Many of our people are experiencing parallel conditions behind a good church
face. Even those of us experiencing good times are coming from the solemnity
of Good Friday the context of the Passion and the cost of the Cross.
Into this deep need steps Mary, frightened but courageous, lonely
but faithful, hurting but obedient, looking for Jesus and yearning to be close
to Him, even in His death. Perhaps Peter and John could have experienced the
angels and seen the living Christ too, if they had not left and gone home?
Mary's diligence in seeking Christ through service is rewarded with an encounter
with Jesus--alive! It's a very experiential answer from God, astonishing and
perspective-changing. Whatever our individual or community condition, Christ
surely wants us to be seeking Him in this way: over and through our circumstances.
Surely He will keep His wonderful promises: if we seek Him we shall find Him;
He will never leave us or forsake us.
Mary's story of faithful worship in the midst of these circumstances
can speak to us and our people of how to get through times of turmoil and
trial. To return to the last place, as it were, that we were with Jesus, and
to seek Him by obeying His commands, through the worship of service. This
scripture may lead us to respond in awestruck praise, if we are able to apprehend
the unexpectedness and the reality of these events. As we leave this service,
I hope that we are changed to live for Jesus more intentionally, more faithfully,
more determinedly. If we also live more expectantly perhaps we shall meet
Jesus, recognize Him, and hear Him call us by name.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
Perhaps this is a down-beat approach to opening and Easter morning
sermon, but if we are faithful to the text the downbeat will serve only to
emphasize the upbeat of encountering the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The darkness
of the pre-dawn cemetery can be contextualized with whatever challenges our
communities, churches, and people are going through.
As we preach Mary sobbing through tired eyes and not recognizing
Jesus even as she speaks with Him, we can connect to the Prevenient Grace
all about us that invites us to hear God speaking even in a fallen and damaged
world--even if we don't immediately recognize it. How much more did Mary see
Jesus when she realized who she was speaking to! So too, discovering that
Jesus Christ is the God that we each long for is a wonderful moment that we
can confidently promise awaits all those who diligently seek God in our Christ-centered
churches.
That God knows each of us by name, might be a new idea to many. That God is personal, is knowable and is interested in a genuine relationship with us, could be a revelation. It's an audacious claim that we make, but this is what scripture teaches us and what the Church proclaims. That Jesus is alive is the Easter truth. That He is alive to us can be our Easter truth.
