Debbie
Cato
John
20:1-18
An
Empty Tomb
Peace
Presbyterian Church
April
5, 2015 Easter Sunday
An
Empty Tomb1
“They
have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Why
does Mary say this, especially on Easter morning? Isn’t she
supposed to be full of hope? She notices that the stone has been
rolled away from the tomb, and yet she weeps? Mary Magdalene was
expecting Jesus’ body to be in that tomb. “They
have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him,”
she
weeps.
We
have spent seven weeks; 40 days, walking to the cross with Jesus. We
have been focusing on piety and repentance, temptation and
self-denial, obedience, servant-hood and sacrifice. For seven weeks
we have focused on the depth of suffering and sacrifice that Jesus
experienced on our behalf. For seven weeks we have anticipated the
“Hallelujah!” of Easter morning. We have felt the momentum build
for this day, knowing that today we can say with confidence and joy,
“Christ
the Lord has risen today!
Christ
the Lord has risen indeed!” And
yet, Mary weeps.
When
we read this account of the women finding the tomb empty, we are
filled with the joy of Easter morning. This is the ending we’ve
been waiting for! We praise God that the tomb is empty! This is the
ending that saves the world! Certainly the men and women who knew
and loved and followed and learned from Jesus would be filled with
joy. After all, Jesus himself told them at least three times that he
would be killed by the religious leaders and secular leaders in
Jerusalem. He told them three times that he would die and after
three days rise again. Why don’t his followers get this?
Mary
Magdalene came to the tomb early that Sunday morning and did not find
what she expected. She witnessed His crucifixion. She watched him
die. Mary expects to find the Lord’s dead body in the tomb. But
instead, she is devastated to find the tomb empty. She is filled
with horror, loss, and confusion. Mary bottoms out with sorrow when
she finds the tomb empty.
They
must have taken him away. Maybe he was never really there. Maybe he
was only a rabbi. Only a teacher. Maybe he wasn’t the Messiah
after all. Fill in the blank. Any explanation except the one that
Jesus gave: “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said.
May
Magdalene is grief stricken.
“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have
laid him,”
she cries. When she first met Jesus, she was possessed by seven
demons - seven. Jesus healed her and gave her a new life. She
literally owed Jesus her life. Mary became a devoted follower,
entering into the close circle of those taught by Jesus during his
Galilean ministry. She became prominent during the last days,
accompanying Jesus during his travels and following him to the end;
all the way to the cross. She was the leader of
a group of women disciples who were
present at the cross, when all the male disciples, except John the
Beloved, fled out of fear for their own lives. She witnessed Christ’s
Crucifixion and burial. And now, according to all four Gospels, she
is the first person to see the resurrected Christ.
In the midst of her despair, in the midst of her grief, she hears the
voice of her Lord. “Mary!”
he says. “Mary.”
In the sound of her name, she recognizes her Lord’s voice.
“I
have seen the risen Lord!”
she announces to the disciples. Mary, this woman once possessed by
demons, this faithful follower of Christ, brings the good news to the
other disciples. “I
have seen the risen Lord!”
It is with this astonishing news, first announced by Mary to the
other disciples where all Christian teaching
begins.
This news is revolutionary! “Christ
has risen! The Lord has risen indeed!”
Honestly,
I'm not sure I really get it. What about you? How could Jesus, who
after being beaten and mocked and crucified; how could Jesus, after
dying on that cross and buried in a stone tomb, live? The
resurrection defies logic. It's hard to explain. It's hard to
understand. I cannot fully grasp what happened in that tomb. No one
actually saw it. It was entirely between Jesus and God.
I
have to admit – I probably would have reacted as Mary did.
Devastated by the empty tomb. And yet, just as He promised, Jesus
defeated death. He rose from the grave. He spoke Mary's name and
she knew it was Him. And after that, the Risen One had people to see
and things to do. In the days ahead, He talked with his followers;
He ate with them; they touched Him. And every time He came to his
friends they became stronger and wiser; kinder, and more daring.
Every time he came to them, they became more like him. In the
end, that is the only evidence we have to offer those who ask us how
we can possibly believe. Because we live, that is why. Because we
have found, to our surprise, that we are not alone. Because we never
know where He will turn up next. We never know when He will call
our name.
It’s
these appearances that cinch the resurrection for me, not what
happened in the tomb. For the rest of us, Easter began the moment
Jesus said, “Mary!” and she recognized his voice. That is where
the miracle happened and it is where it continues to happen. Not in
the tomb, but in our encounter with the living Lord. For
Mary, for Peter and John, for Thomas and for the rest of the
disciples, and for people like me and you, the empty tomb is indeed
the cause for great rejoicing. Christ defeated death and rose from
the grave. He is present with us, Emmanuel – God with us. He is
present with us in all places and all times.
I'm
thankful that human interpretation (or misunderstanding) of the empty
tomb does not determine its significance. The empty tomb proves God's
power over death. The empty tomb is the concrete reality of the
presence of the risen Lord. The empty tomb means that the risen Lord
stands before us; when we are fearful and troubled and scared, He is
with us. He calls our name. When we are filled with joy and
excitement – the risen Lord is with us. Christ walks among us just
as He did the disciples. He is with us when we feed the hungry, help
the oppressed, love one another. The empty tomb means that for us,
death is not the end. The empty tomb promises those who believe,
resurrection. The empty tomb means that the worst thing, is not the
last thing.
The
apostle Paul tells us that “Jesus
destroyed our last enemy;2
Jesus destroyed death.”3
The resurrected Jesus responds to our doubts about his presence
among us every day of our lives with this question: “Why
do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has
risen!”
He has risen indeed! AMEN.
1
Resources used in addition to commentaries include:
Journey
with Jesus, by Dan Clendenin @
www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20100329JJ
Escape
from the Tomb, Barbara Brown Taylor @ www.christiancentury.org
Empty
Tomb, Empty Talk, Thomas G. Long @ www.christiancentury.org
Completing
the circle: The Resurrection according to John, Derek Tidball.
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