March 27, 2005

Easter

John 20:1-18

Every one of Jesus' followers had a different encounter with the resurrection. To understand Mary Magdalene's reaction we have to get one thing straight. Jesus was dead. D-E-A-D dead. Not asleep. Dead with a capital "D" You see, we all know that Jesus arose. On Easter Sunday we sing "Christ the Lord has risen today. But too often I think we forget where he arose from. We just skip over his death. Perhaps we sing "Up from the mumble he arose!, he arose!.." He rose from the dead. That was a very important fact.

Mary Magdalene knew that Jesus had died. His death was real to her because his life had made such an impact on hers. He had cast demons out of her and changed her life. He had taught her about a loving Father in heaven. Before Jesus all she knew of was a vengeful God who punished the sinner. Jesus' life changed her life.

His death was an awful shock to her. But she knew he was dead. Most of the other disciples had watched Jesus' death from a distance. They could deny it if it got too real for them. Something in the back of their minds told them that they were watching one of those religious plays that the pagans used to put on. But Mary couldn't deny the reality of Jesus' death. She had stood at the foot of the cross where Christ’s blood had dripped down onto her face. And when they took him off the cross she held his cold dead body in her arms and wept with his mother. Jesus had died, and Mary Magdalene knew it.

 My friends, in order to fully appreciate the joy of Easter morning, we have to put ourselves in Mary Magdalene’s shoes. You know the old saying, “Don’t judge somebody till you’ve walked a mile in their shoes?” Jesus refused to judge Mary Magdalene at all. Refused to condemn her for being a prostitute. He only said, “Choose to change your life. Choose to sin no more.” This woman who had sold her “love” for a few coins had learned what love was about from the source, from the heart of Jesus.

In the movie “Good Will Hunting” a psychiatrist played by Robin Williams is trying to get at the source of all the anger inside of a young punk played by Matt Damon. But when they talk about the death of Robin Williams’ wife, it touches the anger inside of him, too. His voice cracks with emotion as he says to the kid, “You don’t know about real loss. Real loss is only possible when you love someone else more than you love yourself.” That was Mary’s dilemma. Jesus had taught her to love others—to love him—more than she loved herself. His death was real loss.

Nevertheless, it was the Jewish custom that the women prepare the body for burial. Jesus had died too close to the Sabbath, so they had hurriedly wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a tomb. So Mary made her way to the tomb to finish the job. She didn't expect to find what she found. Someone had rolled the stone away. Not knowing what to do, she ran to the other disciples.

When she got to them she told them, "Someone has stolen Jesus' body and I don't know where they have put it. Who would have done such a cruel thing." Peter and John ran to the crime scene and when they arrived they both looked at the evidence before them. The stone had been rolled away. The burial cloth was lying on the slab where Jesus' body was only three days before. And the cloth that had covered his face was rolled up to one side. It says that they believed. They believed that his body had been stolen, not that he was alive.

 Jesus' followers had heard him say that he would rise on the third day. Yet when they saw the evidence of the resurrection they failed to believe. They didn't run from the tomb hollering "He Is Alive." Instead they walked away, wondering who had stolen his body.

Why did it take Mary so long to accept that Jesus had risen? She had a lot to lose by believing that Jesus was alive. He was the only one who had accepted her, made her feel welcome. So she had learned to keep her mouth shut about certain things, like people rising from the dead. If she started telling people that Jesus was alive, they might think she was crazy. It was public record that Jesus was dead. His death certificate was on file in the county court house. People would say that now that Jesus was gone the demons had taken over her mind again. They would say, "The dead don't rise, you crazy woman."

Emotionally it was hard for her to accept Jesus death. It had probably taken a while for her to accept Jesus' death to begin with. She probably hadn't slept at all Friday night. She had probably stayed up all night going through the events in her head over and over again trying to see if it was real. She had been there but it had all seemed like a bad dream. Finally she had gotten to the point where she could accept that Jesus was dead. It was not a bad dream, it was a living nightmare. She knew that she would never see Jesus again.

She would never again hear her friend call her name, or tell her of the wonderful love of her Heavenly Father. It had been hard to reach that point of accepting his death. What if she let herself believe that Jesus was alive, and then she found out that he really was dead. She would have to accept his death all over again. She had lost him once. How could she lose him twice?

And in the midst of her doubt she went to look into the tomb again for herself. And sitting there were two angels clothed in white, only Mary did not recognize them. And they said, "Woman, why are you weeping." She replied, "They have taken Jesus' body and I do not know where." But it was probably also an attempt to assert the view of reality that she thought represented sanity. The view that Jesus had died and that his body had been stolen. He couldn't be alive, could he?

Then she turned and there stood Jesus. The Bible says that she mistook Jesus as the gardener. Jesus said, "Why are you weeping, who are you looking for?" Once again she firmly held on to that version of reality which gave her security. She said, "Sir, if you have taken my Jesus, show me where you have put him."

Then Jesus said, "Mary." At that moment she knew it was Jesus. Only the voice of her Lord calling her name could cut through all those fear and doubts. Only the voice of her Lord could call her back to the dream that was real reality. Only then could she embrace the resurrection.

Then Jesus told her, "I have not yet ascended to my Father, go tell the others that I will ascend." Then Mary ran and joyfully told the other that she had seen Jesus. That is when she ran hollering "He is Alive! He is Alive!"

You know Mary's journey to belief is not that much different from what many people experience. Many people have trouble embracing the resurrection. From the world's perspective it is insane to believe in the resurrection. They say, "The dead don't rise." And, "Sane people don't talk to angels." If you try to tell them different they might say that you have lost touch with reality. The world says, "Look at what you have to lose." What if you decided to believe that Jesus did rise from the dead, and then you find out that it was all a hoax and that someone just stole his body? Won't you look foolish?

One of the most popular shows, in fact, three of the most popular shows on TV right now are CSI, plus CSI Miami and now CSI New York. These shows, which, I might add, really gross me out, are all about investigating crime scenes, finding clues that will tell how someone was murdered and who did it. It was in that same spirit that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. Oh, she knew how Jesus died and who did it, but she came expecting to find a dead body. That’s what a forensic scientist does—he has a dead body, comes up with a theory and starts running tests to prove or disprove it. Mary wanted to see the body once more, just to prove to herself that Jesus was really dead. No wonder she couldn’t find him.

No, she didn’t find Christ, Christ found her. And my brothers and sisters, that’s the whole point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the message of Easter in a nutshell. We do not find Christ, Christ finds us. He is seeking us, even when we are angry at him and don’t miss him, even when we are deliberately rebellious and run the opposite way. If you have lost Christ this Easter Sunday, if your spiritual life is as thin and fragile as the shell on an Easter egg, you can be assured of one thing--he is still looking for you, for he will not lightly let you go. He misses you, he wants you back, and he seeks until he finds.

Throughout the Lenten season we have been looking at the aspects of God, who he is and what he wants of us. We started on Ash Wednesday talking about God the Great Challenger, then for Valentine’s Day moved to God the Great Lover. We talked about God as a great healer, God who is infinitely patient, God who invites us to his feast, a God who weeps alongside of us when we weep. But without the message of Easter Sunday, it would be, as they say on CSI, a moot point. For our God is not dead, he is alive and well and working in the lives of his beloved people.