The
Resurrection of our Lord – John 20 – April 1st,
2018
Christ is Risen (He is Risen Indeed, alleluia)
Christ is Risen (He is Risen Indeed, alleluia)
My
dear and beloved friends in Christ – we are gathered here and
celebrating our Lord's resurrection not simply because of quaint
tradition, or because we've always done it this way, but because the
Resurrection of Christ Jesus is the most profound and impactful
event, not just in the history of the world, but in your life. There
is nothing more important in your life than the fact that Christ
Jesus is risen from the dead. And I mean that right now – not just
for eternity, not just for sometime off in heaven or on the last day
whenever that gets here, but right now, your life is shaped by the
fact that Christ Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus' resurrection
shapes everything about your life, your day to day life. And we can
forget that, overlook it, take it for granted sometimes. But our
Gospel text this morning gives us an example of just how impactful
Christ Jesus and His resurrection is in a very real way. Listen.
Now
on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early.
Pause right there. Who is Mary Magdalene? What's her story? Luke
describes her thusly in chapter 8: Mary, called
Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.
Being possessed by seven demons – that's not a happy place. And
many people think that Mary is the same “sinful” woman who
anointed Jesus' feet in Luke 7. Either way – if the best starting
place for you is that you're merely just the gal who was possessed by
7 demons, you were in a bad place. Not only were you in a bad place,
but you were isolated, alone, driven away from people. And if you
were in fact a prostitute, you were even more isolated, used and
abused and touched not for true intimacy and union, but to be tossed
out and ignored like trash. That's where Mary was – and then comes
Jesus. And she is healed, the demons are cast out of her. She is
forgiven, and she is welcomed. She is clean and holy, and she becomes
part of the group – she travels around with Jesus, she has
friendships and connection with Jesus and the disciples and the other
gals there. That life of isolation, terror, fear and shame has given
way to a new life with Christ.
And then comes Good Friday. And they kill Jesus. The Disciples are panicked and go into hiding. Mary still gets to hang around with the women – the other Gospels note that other gals were with her, but John in his Gospel is just zooming in on Mary – but what would Mary's fear be? They were all gathered around Jesus, and what's going to happen to Mary now that Jesus has died? Those relationships she had – they were centered in following Jesus – are they going to crumble now? Jesus is the one who had protected her and had rescued her from the demons; are they going to come back for her now? Is it all going to fall and crumble back into the way it was before? And so going to that tomb that Sunday morning, Mary knows there's a very real possibility that it's all going to fall apart, that tending properly to a dead body is end; turn out the lights, the party's over. That's where Mary is when she reaches the tomb – and that's why she's so distraught.
[Mary]
saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran 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.”
And she gets to the grave, and the large stone is rolled away, and
what does she think? They've taken Jesus body. They hated Him, this
man who had made her life good, they hated Him so bad they stole and
defiled His corpse. And so she runs to the disciples, gets Peter and
John, and Peter and John run to the tomb, and they find it empty.
But they didn't remember the promise of the Resurrection and comfort
Mary. Instead, “Then the disciples went back
to their home. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.”
They don't comfort Mary, they ditch her. Leave her crying at the
tomb and run back to hide. Fear and isolation. And then Mary stoops
in the tomb, and she sees two angels – and they talk to her:
“Woman, why are you weeping?”
And she doesn't notice, doesn't put together that there are angels
there – that's how distraught she is. Of course she is – you see
what's happened to her life, right?
She
said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know
where they have laid Him.”
They, the world is at it, the world is messing with everything again
and I don't know, I am powerless to stop it. And so she turns, and
then there's Jesus, right in front of her – and she doesn't
recognize him – probably staring at the ground through tears and
fears. And Jesus asks, “Woman, why are you
weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Gentle, polite, kind words. But Mary in her distress cries out,
“Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me
where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
And there's the best hope Mary thinks she has – I'll drag Him,
I'll drag His body through this garden all alone and by myself and
hide Him. In that moment, that's the “best” hope.
And
then Jesus says one word. And this is the most important word, the
hinge, the one that completely changes everything in Mary's life once
again, the one word that turns an incredible darkness into light.
And Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Mary. Her name. I'm not some stranger-danger body snatcher, I am
your Lord, Mary. I am your friend, Mary. I am your Savior, Mary –
and I'm standing right here risen from the dead. The world that you
fear so much, those demons that you worry about, that sin and
temptation that hound, they you all did their worst to Me, and I
rose... and I didn't rise away from you, I didn't rise and say,
“Thank goodness I don't need to have that demon-trollop girl hang
around anymore” - I rose to call you Mary My friend. Forever. And
then, for Mary, the utter joy. This is comedy – this is the
wonderful twist that leads to the happy ending. Mary is so ecstatic
that Jesus has to say: Do not cling to me, for 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.” I've
got a bit more business to do, Mary – but go tell the disciples,
because you're not cut off from them either, go tell them that My
Father is still our Father – ours, together. That's what My death
and resurrection have ensured. And in fact, next weekend we will see
what Jesus does when He shows up to those fearful disciples (because
they weren't quite sure of what Mary had said). But for this morning
– do you see the shift, the change? Do you see the movement from
the despair of Mary's life to the joy of Christ's resurrection for
Mary?
This
is why Christ's resurrection is the most important thing in your
life. Today. Right now. You see, Satan recycles his tricks, and in
this world the Devil will hound you. He'll toss out temptations and
folly, and there will come times when you will look upon your life
with regret and sorrow. Satan will stir up violence and wickedness
and hatred all around you – we have that in spades today. And you
will come across fears and worries and doubts – and fears and
worries and doubts that often are very, very real. And understand,
I'm not diminishing any of this – these things are often big and
real and nasty – things we wouldn't breathe a word of to anyone.
This past month may very well have been the worst of your life. Next
Tuesday may be the hardest day you face – I don't know when, but
hardship and trial will come. That's what Satan does to us while we
are in this sinful world. Mary's tears were real, and often yours
will be real as well.
And
yet, here is the hinge in your life. You are baptized into Christ.
Jesus Christ called you by name at your baptism – Jesus had you
baptized by your name. It wasn't just some blanket, random thing –
but He Himself had you brought to the font, and Jesus Christ called
you by name. And therefore this is the truth – you belong to Him.
You belong to the resurrected Lord who has gone through and conquered
Satan and all of His tricks, and His promise to you at your baptism
was to be your Lord who would see you through it all, to be your Lord
who would be with you through it all. He cleansed you, He forgave
you, He declared you holy right there at the font. He made His
Spirit – the Lord and giver of Life - to dwell in you. He declared
you worthy to be in His presence, both now in His church and forever
in His kingdom – that's why we start our service with the words of
our Baptism – in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Right there at the font, your risen Lord called you by
your name.
If
you would remember the catechism – what does such baptizing with
water indicate? It
indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition be
drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man
should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and
purity forever.
Daily. Even though you are daily caught up in this sinful world,
your sin is daily drowned and you are cleansed. Daily you arise anew
to live before God, live in His presence in His own righteousness and
purity forever because Jesus loves you and is pleased with you and
delights in you and has done everything to see that you will be with
Him forever – that you will be with all of the saints, that we will
rise from the dead ourselves and be with Him forever – and without
the troubling taint of sin that makes us all too often annoying to
each other. But this isn't just then – it's now – Romans 6 –
We were therefore buried with Him through baptism
into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
That's the reality of your life right now. That's who you are in
Christ. And nothing, no sorrow or hardship, no matter how big or
hard or difficult they are – indeed even death itself can't change
that. Jesus Christ faced all that for you, He went through all that
for you, and He rose from the dead, and He brings you with Him. You
are safe, secure, loved, and protected in Him. You have true life in
Him, life that will long outlast any junk you see now. Therefore we
gladly proclaim: Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!
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