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It's early Sunday morning, and she can't wait
any longer. Jesus had been taken down from the cross late
on the Friday and buried in Joseph's tomb, but the Jewish
law prohibited them from travelling as far as the tomb on
the Sabbath, particularly this Sabbath, being Passover.
So they'd had to wait a whole day before going to put
spices on his body and mourn over him properly. And so
now here she is hurrying towards the graveyard in the
dark. But when she arrives she's brought up with a shock.
The stone has been removed from the entrance to the tomb.
Everyone knew that stones were used across the entrance
to tombs to stop body snatchers from taking the bodies of
the dead. But surely that hadn't happened! What if
someone had come in the middle of the night and taken his
body away? What if she never has the chance to say good
bye? What will she do? |
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So she
hurries back to the solid and dependable Peter who's
still with John, the disciple that Jesus loved. She
probably doesn't realise just how undependable Peter
turned out to be on the night before the crucifixion. But
she hurries back and tells him, "They've taken the
Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they've put
him." So now here are Peter and John running towards
the tomb. John's the younger of the two so he outruns
Peter and gets there first. But he doesn't go in. He
stops outside, bends over and looks in and sees the
strips of linen lying there. Simon Peter on the other
hand, ever the impetuous one, goes straight in. He too
sees the strips of linen lying there along with the
burial cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head.
This is lying by itself, separate from the rest of the
cloths, almost as though Jesus were still in it. But he
isn't. John also goes inside then, sees that Jesus is no
longer wrapped in the cloths and, we're told, he
believes. What does he believe? That Jesus is risen,
though he still didn't understand the Scriptures that had
predicted it. |
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Well,
what could they do? They were totally mystified. All they
could do was to go home and wait to see what would happen
next. But not Mary. She waits by the tomb weeping. She's
probably arrived some time after Peter and John, but now
as she too bends down to look inside she sees something
new. She sees two angels seated either end of where
Jesus' body had been. The place of his death was between
two thieves, but the place of his burial is between two
angels. And as she looks they ask her, "Woman, why
are you crying?" They seem to be genuinely confused
at her distress. From their perspective of course there's
no need for tears. But if they're confused, Mary is even
more so. "Isn't it obvious. They've taken my Lord
away and I don't know where he is." This is the
final straw. Bad enough that he's dead, but she doesn't
even have a body to care for and to mourn over any more.
But then with a start she notices a man standing behind
her. We're told it's Jesus, but Mary doesn't recognise
him. Perhaps the rising sun is behind him and all she can
see is an outline, or perhaps his appearance is
sufficiently changed that he's not immediately
recognisable. |
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Jesus
asks her the same question: "Woman, why are you
crying?" Then he adds a second question: "Who
is it you are looking for?" Is this a challenge? Or
a test? "Do you know who he really is?" If you
really understood who it is you're looking for, would you
look here? Or is he saying, "Are you prepared to be
counted among his followers still? Even after he's been
publicly shamed and put to death on a cross?" All
Mary knows is that she loved him and now she wants to
honour his dead body. So she asks him if maybe he's
taken him away. He seems to have an aura of authority
about him, so maybe he's in charge of the garden and
knows where Jesus has been taken. |
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But then
Jesus reveals himself to her in the most profound way:
with a single word. He simply says "Mary." He
addresses her with a personal, perhaps even intimate form
of address, her own name. And instantly she recognises
him and calls out to him in joy with her own
personal way of addressing him, "Rabboni",
"My own dear Teacher." The good shepherd calls
his own sheep by name and they recognise his voice. Mary
recognises Jesus as he calls her personally. |
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But
things have changed. As she tries to hold on to him, he
tells her she's not to. This is no longer the time for
physical contact with Jesus. That will come again when we
join him in the Father's kingdom, but for now our
relating to Jesus is by faith in union with the Holy
Spirit. This is something that we also discover when
Thomas encounters the risen Christ the following week.
First Jesus offers to let him touch his wounds, just as
the other disciples had the previous week, but Thomas
says he doesn't need to touch them. He can see with his
own eyes that Jesus is really alive. But then Jesus says
(v29): "Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe." There's a new way of relating to Jesus
now. Now our relationship with Jesus comes by faith, not
by seeing. |
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And so
Mary is told not to hold on to Jesus. Instead, she's
given a task to perform. She's to go and tell others
about him. The first lesson she has to learn after
discovering that Jesus is alive is that a relationship
with Jesus implies sharing him with others. Her first
impulse was to hold on to him so she wouldn't lose him
again, but in fact the only way to hang on to him was by
sharing him. Notice, by the way, that the first apostle,
that is the first person sent by Jesus to spread the Good
News of his resurrection, was a woman. |
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Similarly
the disciples, that night, are sent out to proclaim the
gospel. Jesus breathes on them to signify the giving of
the Holy Spirit who will go with them, then commissions
them to go and proclaim forgiveness of sin to all who
will believe. |
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Notice,
by the way, how belief in Jesus comes about in these
resurrection encounters with Jesus. There's actually
three ways. |
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The first
is through the historical physical evidence: the empty
tomb and the grave clothes left in their original
position. We're told that having seen this, John
believed. Those who have researched the historical
evidence over the years have come to the overwhelming
conviction that the evidence points to a miraculous
event. The book, "Who Moved the Stone", gives
one such account. Christian Faith is faith based on the
past action of God in history, so it's open to historical
examination. |
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Secondly
there's the evidence of Scripture. John says they didn't
yet understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from
the dead. Had they known their Scriptures and had they
understood who Jesus was, they might not have been so
downhearted. For example Ps 16:9-11 says this
"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure, 10because you
will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your
Holy One see decay. 11You have made known to
me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your
presence, with eternal pleasures at your right
hand." (NIV) |
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You may
remember a couple of years ago we looked at some of the
prophecies about Jesus' coming and his death and
resurrection and the way they were fulfilled in the NT.
The closeness of some of those prophecies to the actual
events is nothing short of amazing. But I guess if you're
there in the midst of it and you're not looking for it,
it could be easy enough to overlook. |
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But the
third way that belief comes about is through a personal
encounter with the risen Christ. It was as Mary
encountered Jesus personally that her eyes were opened.
It was as Jesus appeared in person to the disciples that
they came to believe and were filled with joy. A week
later it was as Thomas saw Jesus with his own eyes that
he confessed Jesus as Lord. |
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God has
made it possible for us, too, to encounter Jesus
personally. Not in the same tangible way that Mary and
the disciples did, but through His Holy Spirit and by
faith. What was it that Jesus said to his disciples on
the night before his death? (John 16:12-16 NRSV) "I
still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he
will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak
on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will
declare to you the things that are to come. 14He
will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and
declare it to you. 15All that the Father has
is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is
mine and declare it to you. 16"A little
while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little
while, and you will see me." |
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So how
will we see him? Through faith. Through the work of the
Holy Spirit revealing him to us as we read God's word. As
we meditate on what's been passed down to us through the
apostles' witness. As we seek to follow him each day. |
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The last
thing I wanted to take from this passage was to reinforce
the lesson that Mary and the disciples learnt. To know
Jesus, implies a responsibility to tell others about him.
The effect of the resurrection is universal. That is,
it's for all people and all people need to hear about it.
Mary's commission to go and tell the disciples
anticipates the great commission that Jesus gave all his
followers: to go and make disciples of all nations. |
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We can
believe in the resurrection, because of the historical
evidence, because of the testimony of God's word, and
because of our own personal encounter with the risen
Christ through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit. But
unless we tell others about him we haven't fulfilled the
reason for the season. Easter is about proclaiming that
Jesus Christ who was dead is now alive again and reigns
with God the Father forever. Let me finish with part of
the opening chapter of Revelation (1:12-18 NRSV)
"Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke
to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and
in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of
Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash
across his chest. 14His head and his hair were
white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a
flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished
bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like
the sound of many waters. 16In his right hand
he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp,
two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining
with full force. 17When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on
me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and
the last, 18and the living one. I was dead,
and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys
of Death and of Hades." This is the one we worship
and about whom we're to tell others, the first and the
last, the living one, who was dead but see now he is
alive forever and ever. |
