"Come to the Garden" - John 20: 1-18

While it was still dark. We have gathered today in the darkness, but as we have gathered together we lit the light of Christ, which fills this place. We have gathered together in darkness - some come with hearts heavy with grief. Others come feeling like they are carrying the weight of the world. Some may come with worries about today or the future. Yet, we have come.

Mary also came in the darkness. Just like you, just like me. However, her darkness was not just the lack of light outside, but the grief that was in her heart. And that she did not understand what is about to take place.

But when she arrived she was able to see through the darkness that things were not as she expected them to be, for the stone had been rolled away. She didn’t even look into the tomb, knowing that what she was find there was not what she wanted, not what she expected, but rather a lack of Jesus’s body. So instead, she ran. She ran to Peter and the other disciples and made a bold statement, “they have taken the Lord out of the tomb.”

Who was this “they” that she was speaking about? Some scholars think that the very religious leaders who had cheered for the death of Jesus were part of who insisted that he be buried in this particular manner, in accordance with the law. Maybe Mary that it was the religious leaders who had come in the middle of the night and moved his body. Or maybe it was the government officials who were supposed to be guarding the tomb, but fearing what his disciples would do, had moved his body. Whoever, they is, it is clear that Mary had someone in mind, and it further broke her heart. 

Peter and another unnamed disciple, who is believed to be John, took off once they heard Mary’s words. Maybe they were in darkness as well, the darkness of unbelief. How can what Mary said be true? Maybe she misunderstood? Either way, they needed to see it for themselves, so they took off. 

Peter bent down and saw that it was just as Mary had said at the garden tomb. Had he come to the garden expecting anything different? The other disciple went into the tomb itself and the text said that he believed. Let us note, that he believed the word of Mary, believed that they had moved the body. They did not yet come to the garden and leave the tomb expecting or believing in the resurrection. And because this was not what they expected or what they believed, they left the garden that day still in the darkness of unknowing. 

But Mary, Mary stayed. She couldn’t bring herself to leave. Her heart still heavy, now with even more grief, that all she could do was weep. Through her darkness and her tears she did not recognize the man standing near her, asking why she was weeping. Thinking that he was just the care taker of the garden, she asked if he was the one who carried away her Lord. Was he part of the “they”? 

Then Jesus simply said her name, “Mary”, and her eyes were opened. Just as he said the name “Lazarrus” not many days ago, and he came out of the tomb. From darkness to light. Mary’s eyes and heart were open and she did all she knew what to do, she called his name aloud and rushed to hug him. Hug his risen body. 

When I was little Norman Rockwell paintings were ones that I remembered seeing in several places. Maybe you remember seeing them as well. They were paintings that people could relate to, every day people, doing every day things. Friends, that is what the scripture has been like for people for so many years. Especially for Christians, we see ourselves in the every day experience of those early disciples, which allow us to insert ourselves into the story anew. 

This may be a story that you have heard before. Maybe it is completely new to you, but either way, let us insert ourselves anew into it this day. Are you like Mary, coming to the garden of life, expecting one thing, only to be disappointed that life isn’t as you expect it to be? Or do you come to the garden today based on the word of others, like Peter and the unnamed disciple, only to still leave without encounter the Risen Savior yourself? Or are you like Mary after the disciples left, so caught up in grief and overwhelm, that you are having a hard time recognizing the presence of Jesus right near you? Friends, know that the Easter story is for you. 

Or are you like Mary after her eyes and heart are opened, rushing to cling to Jesus, to grow close to him, to celebrate that he is right here with you. Know that the Easter story is for you as well. 

For as we insert ourselves into the story of Easter again this day, we can recognize ourselves in so many of the characters, depending on where we find ourselves at this very moment. For they were people like us, coming to a garden expecting one thing, but leaving finding another. 

But here’s the thing, friends of God. Once we have had this life changing encounter in the garden of life, we are not the same. We are sent forth, transformed by the love and presence of the Risen Christ, to proclaim the Good News, the news that we have seen Jesus. That we have experienced his love. That we are not the same. 

If you came this morning still seeking Christ, I hope and pray that this is a day where you find him. That this is your time to hear Christ call your name and be transformed by it. If you have forgotten your experience with Christ from long ago, may this be a day for you to remember and to feel your heart strangely warmed. And if this is a day when you are walking close with the Lord, may you remember that we cannot stay in this place, as much as we may want to, but rather we are called to go and proclaim. 

Church, hear the Good News. Christ is Risen! And the church responds “Christ is Risen indeed!” Amen.