He is Risen - John 20: 1-18

We have arrived. For the last several weeks we have been journey together. Journey through the season of Lent, marked by spiritual disciplines. Journey through the final word of the cross. Journeying through letting our lives be transformed by Jesus…. 

And now we have arrived. At Easter.

And yet, so long ago, as Mary Madeline approached the tomb she did not see the day as a beginning so much as an ending. She was going to the tomb to pay her final respect to her teacher and Lord, Jesus Christ. Here was a man who had changed her life and now all she had to offer him was some anointing spices for burial. It seemed a meager offering, yet it was all she had. 

So she went to the tomb when it was still dark out, before the rest of the world had begun to stir, to give all she had to give. She had been grieving. The tears just wouldn’t stop. But through the haze of her tears she could still see that something wasn’t right when she reached the tomb - the stone had been rolled away. The stone that was supposed to keep everyone out - the stone that the Romans put there out of fear had been rolled away. And she did all she could think to do - she ran.

The gospel of John tells the Easter morning story as one of haste - one of running. It is so unlike John. If you want to see a gospel where everything moves at a high speed, look at the gospel of Mark. I still remember translating Mark in college and being struck by how quickly everything move. From one point to another. From one story to another. Not true of John. John wanted to make sure the readers got the point. So what is the point of all of this running Easter morning?

John wants us to feel the chaos of what is taking place. This is unexpected. This is not how things should be happening. Mary didn’t know what to make of the stone being rolled away so she ran to get the disciples. Then Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, ran to the tomb to see the emptiness for themselves. Mary hadn’t even looked into the tomb to know that it was empty but that is what she declared - “They have taken the Lord!” So they ran to see for themselves. What thoughts had to be racing through their minds as their feet sped up - who would take the body? Where is Jesus? What can they do? 

When they arrived at the tomb it was just as Mary said - it was empty. The disciple who reached the tomb first bent over and looked in, confirming Mary’s store. But Peter, Peter was a bit braver. He went into the tomb. And saw the death linens lying there - without the body. In that moment were they remembering Lazarus - Jesus’s friend who not so long ago had his own grave clothes? Where they remembering how he stumbled out of the tomb and folks had to help unwrap him? Were they wondering who would take the body and unwrap it? Jesus’s body may not have began to smell,  but it was considered unclean to touch a dead body. Who would want to do that? 

Then the first disciple took the same brave step as Peter and entered into the tomb. We are told that he believed, but he did not understand. What did he believe? That Jesus wasn’t there? That his body had been taken? Because we are also told that the disciples didn’t understand yet that the scripture had been fulfilled. 

Mary didn’t understand either. Even after the disciples returned to their homes, she stayed behind. She still couldn’t believe what happened. She bent down again to look into the tomb and this time it was no longer empty. Instead, there were two angels where Jesus body used to lie. While angels usually came to announce their news with statements such as “do not be afraid” this time they had a question, “woman, why are you weeping?” At which Mary, not even frightened or taken aback by the presence of the angels recounted how Jesus’s body had been taken away. 

Mary then turned around, away from the angels, and saw Jesus, who she didn’t even recognize as Jesus until he called her by name. Then she sprinted forth to declare the good news, “I have seen the Lord!”

The Easter story in the gospel of John wants to scream at us, and at the disciples so long ago, that “He is Risen! Jesus is alive”. Yet, just like the disciples we can often miss the point. We try to dissect the story to make it more palatable, to help it make sense in our minds, while missing the point. 

Theologian Karl Barth said that when we gather for worship any time, but especially on Easter Sunday, we seem to come with one question - is it true? Is the story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection true and what impact does it have on my life today? 

We spend so much time trying to prove the gospel that we miss its mystery. Miss its holiness. We start to overlook the beauty of the Easter story - Jesus is alive! Something extradionary happened that changed the world and that can change our very lives if we let it!

Friends, Easter in all of its power and glory isn’t the end of the story of Jesus’s life and ministry, it is the beginnings. A new beginning. Easter is the story of a Risen Savior that no one believed was risen at the time. Even those closest to him. Even those he had repeatedly told about his death and resurrection. And because his disciples could not even grasp that Jesus was risen they also forgot what Jesus had been trying to teach them about the power of his resurrection in each of our lives.

Over the past year we have had several funerals in the parish. Funerals are hard because we come together in deep grief to mourn those who meant so much to us. But funerals can also be celebrations - celebrations of eternal life. Hear these words that are proclaimed at funeral services: Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, they shall live again and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also. And from the apostle Paul “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. These scriptures are true because of the power of the resurrection. 

So the question for us this morning is not so much is it true but more improbably, do you believe? Do you believe that Christ has the power to conquer death? Do you believe that we can live eternally with Jesus because of the power of Easter? And have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Let us not miss the point this day, brothers and sisters. He is risen! He is risen indeed!