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April 8, 2007 (Easter Sunday)
Scripture: John 20: 1-18
Title: “I have seen the Lord!”

Do not be afraid for see I am bringing your good news of great joy for all the people! To you is risen this day a Savior, Who is the Messiah the Lord! This will be a sign for you: you will find the stone rolled away from the tomb, the burial cloths rolled away and Jesus resurrected! And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favors!

That’s how we expect Easter to come to us. With a multitude of angels announcing his resurrection, “Go and find”. We expect clear signs of the resurrection, you will find the stone rolled away and the linen wrapping put to the side. Simple instructions on where to find the risen Lord “You will find him standing outside of the empty tomb. We expect Jesus’ death to be announced with all the pomp and circumstance, angels and choruses, just like his birth. This is a huge moment in time! But the Gospel of John mutes the whole event.
He shows us that was not how it was on that first Easter morning. Easter came in confusion and in silence. Easter came in the quiet of the morning. Easter came in fear and in grief. Easter came, not in pomp and circumstance, but in faith and hope.

Mary comes to the tomb, wanting to mourn her lost Savior. He is really gone. All the hope, all the possibilities of the promised Kingdom of God are gone. And when she arrives, the stone is rolled away. Immediately, she thinks someone has taken her Lord. What a cruel joke! They can’t even let him lie in death in peace. They still seek him out even in death.

She runs and gets Peter and the Beloved disciple. They arrive at the empty tomb. It is not a joke. Mary is not seeing things. The stone has been moved away and the linen wrappings are lying there but no body!

At first, no one dares to enter the tomb. Too much has happened these last few days for any of them to feel safe being seen there. Peter slowly goes into the tomb. There are the wrappings that had been around Jesus’ feet. There are the wrappings that had been around Jesus’ head.
There is no body. There is nothing left of their Savior, of their teacher, of this man who should them glimpses of the Kingdom of God. There is no body.
Both Peter and the Beloved Disciple leave the tomb, neither one talking. Neither one is quite sure of what it all means. Neither one is quite sure if they really understand why the stone was rolled away. They just know that there is no body.

Mary watches them walk away and weeps. She looks into the tomb. Only now do the angels appear. But they do not come in with chorus and songs. They ask “Woman, why are you weeping?” Their clear sign of the resurrection. Their clear instruction on where to find Jesus. That is the great multitude of angels singing announcing the resurrection. Why are you weeping?

Still Mary does not get it. She cannot see the great miracle of Jesus’ death. She cannot see the great miracle of hope and love on that Easter morning.
She turns to the man that she mistakes for the gardener and again asks for the earthly body of Jesus. This is her Savior. This is her teacher. She needs that body to have faith in his promises. She needs that body to have hope in the Kingdom of God. She needs that body to mourn.

She cannot look past the empty tomb. She cannot look past the disappearance of Jesus’ body.

Woman, why are you weeping? There it is! The sign of the resurrection! There will be no more tears. There will be no more sorrow! Why are you weeping? There does not need to be a multitude of angels announcing this miracle, telling people the resurrection has happened. This miracle is one that you experience in your life and in your faith. The resurrection happens within each of us.

It is only when Jesus calls Mary by name does she see beyond the grief, the pain, and the empty tomb and notices the angels, the joy, the chorus of Hallelujahs. Mary! Another sign of the resurrection. Another sign of where to find the risen Lord. Another sign announcing the resurrection. Mary sees Jesus now through the eyes of faith! Mary sees Jesus now through the eyes of hope. Mary sees that the risen Lord now resides in her!

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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