Easter Sunday [John 20:1-18] (1-Apr-2018)

This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 10.30am.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

There is one simple thing that we are gathered together here to celebrate today: the fact that Jesus is risen from the dead.

Every year for the around the last 2000 years or so, there has been some place in the world where these words have been said: Christ is risen! These simple words are the backbone of the Christian faith. There is no Christian faith without these words. There is no salvation without these words, there is no eternal life without these words. There is no forgiveness of sins without these words.

And so churches throughout the world have said for centuries this simple little phrase: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

On Easter Sunday, notice that we don’t say that Christ is alive. Sometimes churches have signs that say, “Jesus lives”, or something like that. Now, it is true: Jesus is alive. But this message is not the clear message of Christianity yet. You see, sometimes when a person dies, people say that they still live on in their hearts, or something like that. That is not what we’re talking about at Easter.

We are talking about the fact that after Jesus died on the cross, they wrapped his body up with cloths and anointed his body with spices. On Good Friday, he breathed out for the last time. And then on Easter Sunday he sat up, stood up and walked out of the tomb. The most important thing for us to come to terms with on Easter Sunday is the simple fact that the resurrection happened. Jesus actually rose from the dead.

Jesus is risen from the dead, he is completely risen from the dead, and nothing less than risen from the dead. Christ is risen, and in this way, and only in this way, can we say that he is alive.

When Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary: “Nothing will be impossible with God.” On this occasion the angel was saying that it was not impossible that Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, should conceive and give birth to a son, when she had been barren all her life and now was old. It was also not impossible that Mary herself, a virgin, not having had any relations with a man, would conceive and give birth to the Son of God.

But this little motto – “Nothing will be impossible with God” – is a kind of summary of the whole of Jesus’ life. Every thing that Jesus says and does is coloured by these words.

And right up to Easter Sunday, we stand here today in the presence of God with the same motto on our lips, with God wiping all tears from our eyes, speaking our faith in the presence of the angels and against the world, confessing with confidence the most impossible thing that could happen: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

And so in our Gospel reading today from St John, we are put in the shoes of Mary Madgalene. We read: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Sometimes people talk as if there are two types of Christians: Good Friday Christians and Easter Sunday Christians. Basically, this amounts to happy Christians and sad Christians, as if being someone who is sad is a bad thing in the sight of God, and being someone who is constantly happy is what it really means to be a Christian. If you hear this sort of thing, then walk away and let the devil make those sorts of distinctions. It’s all rubbish, and just some silly attempt to undermine your faith because of whatever emotions you might feel.

As I heard a pastor recently put it like this: “Without the resurrection, Jesus is not the crucified one, but merely the one who was crucified and is still dead. But since he rose from the dead, He lives as the crucified one. Jesus risen is Jesus crucified. So every faithful pastor preaches Christ crucified!”

What we notice in our reading here is that Mary did not go the cross on Easter Sunday morning. She went to the tomb. She knew that the cross was empty. But she didn’t know the tomb was empty until she got there.

You see, often Lutheran churches have a crucifix in them. And people say—wrongly—that because Jesus is risen, the cross should be empty. But the symbol of the resurrection is not an empty cross, but an empty tomb. The message of Easter is that this Jesus crucified on the cross is the one who is risen from the dead.

But in our Gospel reading today, we notice that Mary Magdalene is crying, she is worried, she is distressed.

She goes to Peter and John and she says: “They have taken away my Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

She brings her problems and her distress to Peter and John.

And what happens? We read: So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.  Both of them were running together but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must risen from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Notice all the detail here: the little race that the disciples have, the linen cloths, the face cloth by itself, Peter looks in first and then John.

Mary leads Peter and John to see what she saw for themselves. But what good does this do for Mary?

We read: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.

She is still crying, she is still anxious, she is still distressed.

She is still without comfort. Her soul refuses to be comforted, and so it should.

The apostles by themselves cannot do a single thing for her. They cannot comfort her. Fellow sinners can bring no comfort from their own minds to fellow sinners. No amount of “cheer up”, “it’s all right”, “don’t cry” can stop Mary Magdalene’s tears from flowing.

So it’s very important how we think about Jesus here: do you think he’s just another man, like any other man, like the Peter or John? There are plenty of people today who deny that Jesus is true God and true man in one person. But you see, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit from a virgin, he was both God and man together. If you don’t believe that Jesus is truly God, then what are you left with? Nothing better than Peter or John—a man like any other man. And then we read: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. Peter and John can offer Mary no comfort. And you believe that Jesus is simply just another “good man”, a “nice guy”, a “pretty good sort of bloke” like Peter and John, then there is no comfort for you. That sort of Jesus is simply not capable of wiping Mary’s tears away.

Then we read: And Mary saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They 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.”

Here we see also that even angels from heaven are not capable of wiping Mary’s tears away. You would have thought that it was an amazing thing that she had seen such a glorious vision from heaven. But she doesn’t want them. She doesn’t want to see angels: her concern is her Lord: “They have taken away my Lord”.

Jesus isn’t an angel either. He isn’t some sort of ghost, or spirit. He has a real human body. If you think that Jesus is just some sort of wafty, nebulous ghost, then you haven’t met the real Jesus. Jesus didn’t become a ghost after his resurrection. He got up and walked out of the tomb. There are Christians today who say that Jesus didn’t physically rise from the dead. They basically make Jesus out to be some sort of angel, or spirit, or ghost. No! Jesus is truly human, a real man who took flesh and blood from his mum, who had real nails go through his hands and feet. He is a high priest who sympathises with you in your weakness.

Out with Jesus, if he is only just a man like Peter and John! Throw Jesus out, if he is merely a spirit, like these two angels! Chuck Jesus out if he is not true God, and just a “good bloke”! Chuck Jesus out if he is not true man, and is just some sort of spirit! Give the impostors the heave-ho! Any “Jesus” like this is the devil in disguise and is not welcome in our church on Easter Sunday. Even two men and the two angels disappoint Mary and leave her in her tears.

So we read: Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means teacher).

And finally, we read that Mary’s tears dry up and her heart rejoices, not only when she is standing in the presence of her risen Saviour, but when he calls her by name.

Jesus, our risen Saviour, true man and true God, our Lord, our teacher, calls you by name today. He calls you to follow him, to worship him, to trust in him. And when Jesus calls you by name, and when he allows you to recognise him as your resurrected Lord, then he comforts you. Jesus is the one who says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” No human being can say this, no angel or spirit can say this. Only Jesus can say this, only Jesus can wipe away our tears from our eyes, because only he is the Son of God, only he is our Immanuel, our God with us, only he was crucified on the cross, and only he was risen from the dead. You are in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus in this church today! This is a reality, a fact—don’t mistake him for a gardener, but recognise him for who he is: he is calling you by your name!

Only he can turn our mourning into dancing, as it says in Psalm 30. Only he can loose our sackcloth and clothe us with gladness.

So St Paul says: If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… If Christ has not been raised, your faith it futile and you are still in your sins… But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

And so Mary says: “I have seen the Lord!”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Amen.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.