THE REACTIONS

EASTER SUNDAY - 8:00am
“This is the Day that God has Made”


Each one of the biblical gospels tell stories of what happened early on the first Easter morning – none of them agree on the exact details, other than that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb that morning. Matthew, Mark and Luke have at least one other woman go with her. John’s gospel mentions only Mary.

JOHN 20:1-10
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.



DISCOVERY AND FIRST REACTION

I know that many of us are familiar with the ultimate climax of the Easter story.

But as we gather here this morning, let’s remember that for Mary and the other disciples, death was the final word.

On Thursday evening, Jesus was arrested. On Friday, he was executed; he was hastily buried before sunset. From sundown Friday through the daylight hours of Saturday, it was the Sabbath day.

And the Passover Sabbath at that (not a time to go to the tomb). And when the Sabbath ended, it was too dark to go to the tomb Saturday night.

So Mary Magdalene ventured out before dawn on Sunday morning, so she could be there at first light, only to make a horrific discovery: the large stone that protected the grave was rolled away.

John’s gospel says that Mary didn’t go in, but she instinctively knew what had happened – someone had taken away Jesus’ body and so she ran back to the disciple and told them what had happened.

Two of them, Simon Peter and one simply described in the Bible as the ‘other disciple’ ran back to see what Mary had seen. Church tradition has decided that this ‘other disciple’ is John. I have no idea if that is true or not, but let’s agree to call this other disciple, ‘John’ for simplicity’s sake.

John gets there first, sticks his head in and sees only the grave cloths. Peter arrives and walks straight into the tomb and takes a good look around – it’s true, Jesus body is gone, only the linens remain.

The other disciple, John, eventually goes in and confirms with his own eyes that the tomb is empty.

John and Peter had confirmed Mary’s report (two male witnesses’ testimony would even stand up in court; but this was not a legal matter, it was a matter of grief and anguish) – the tomb was truly empty, that’s all they needed to know; none of them were not thinking resurrection at this point.

It was just another horrible thing in a serious of horrible things. So, they hung their heads in defeat … and left.

It is hard to take those first steps away.

I have known the experience of being at bedside in hospital when a loved one dies. It is hard to muster the energy to leave. It’s almost as if you don’t leave, you can still hang on to some hope.

How hard it must have been for John and Peter to walk away – knowing that the worst of situations had actually gotten a bit worse. They would have to bearers of the bad news to the others.



JOHN 20:11-16
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look* into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).



SECOND REACTION AND DISCOVERY

Less than three days earlier Jesus had asked his followers to remember him and now they wouldn’t even be able to visit his grave.

After John and Peter had satisfied themselves that Jesus’ body was indeed gone and there was nothing else they could do, the eventually decided it was time to go back to where they were staying.

The gospel implies that Mary wasn’t quite ready to leave, so they others went on without her. Leaving her alone in the garden by the tomb.

Her own selfish grief would not allow her to walk away. I guess she needed what John and Peter had: a firsthand look. Remember when she first arrived, she had only witnessed the stone rolled away, she never went in.

Peter and John had discovered an empty tomb, except for the grave clothes. Mary did not discover an empty tomb according to the fourth gospel.

Two figures in white ask her: why are you weeping? The Bible tells us these were angels, but Mary doesn’t seem to have noticed because she is still concerned about the lack of a dead body.

She leaves the tomb and another voice with the same question: why are you weeping? The Bible tells us that this was Jesus, but Mary doesn’t seem to have noticed because she is still concerned about the lack of a dead body.

The people Mary has just met are strangers to her, but then something very familiar: her name - spoken by that distinctive voice that had told parables, offerred healing and insight - the voice of Jesus, her lord.

Now resurrection is part of the conversation.

By now, Peter and John will have delivered the bad news to the rest of the group. Mary will soon return with good news (gospel)!



JOHN 20:17-18
17Jesus said to [Mary], ‘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.” ’ 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.



Now, legally, this was just the word of a 1st century peasant woman – it held no authority. Anything she said could be dismissed. Her claim was just words. In the gospel of Luke, when the women came to the disciples with stories of angelic messengers proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection, these accounts are dismissed as “idle tales.”

For herself, Mary may be convinced because of what she has seen and heard, but Mary’s words are not proof of Jesus’ resurrection to anyone else. They’re just words: maybe even idle tales.

We are not here because of proof. We are here in faith and in hope.

We are here because at a level beyond logic, we know it feels right to believe in the everlasting nature of God – that (as the Apostle Paul would write ~20 year after Mary shared her gospel/goodnews): “neither death, nor life … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.”

Easter is ‘believing beyond the evidence.’

Easter is stubborn hope and faith.

Easter is our reminder that God reaches beyond the violence, the injustice, the tragedy and the grief and calls out our name in familiar loving voice.

And we can respond by living as if Jesus’ way of living and relating to each other is not dead and buried.

We don’t have the indisputable evidence to prove why we believe these things. Neither did Mary.

Good News indeed!

“Hallelujah, Give Thanks”

Blessing

“Christ is Risen From the Dead”