Christ is Risen – He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia +
The day was dawning, the day above all other days, the day that the world had waited untold centuries for. In a garden long ago the LORD had told Adam and Eve that this day, this great day, this wondrous day would come, and it was here. And in the thin light of morning Mary Magdalene re-entered the garden, but she did not know yet what day it was. Mary thought it was a grave day, a dirty day, a day where she'd spend the morning with the other women cleaning a corpse, making herself unclean. It was a day she thought she'd spend in a dark tomb, no light, no hope. She thought it was, like so many others since the fall, a day of death.
So, since Mary didn't know what day it was, her reaction upon seeing the stone rolled away from the tomb was understandable. There was fear, panic, disgust. Was it to be a day of violence, a day of robbery, a day of confrontation and fights and pain? In that case better go get the boys – So she ran and went 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.” Do you hear it – They, the enemy, the people you must now go and fight – they have taken Him and they've just dumped him somewhere. This violence, this desecration must not stand. Up and at 'em, Peter and John. You're summoned to a fight. Jesus had told you, Peter, to put your sword away, but that's all done now – a sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! There will be a fight, there will be blood today. That's all Mary thought she had left.
Peter and John didn't know what day it was either. For them it had been a shame day – where Peter's own denials echo in His head – the last thing Jesus says to him is chiding Peter for his brash sword play. The last time Peter had seen Jesus was with the rooster's crow and Peter's own denials still in the air. That's where Peter's at. For the disciples it was a fearful day – they didn't want to fight, because they knew they would lose – with might of theirs could naught be done. That's why they'll be spending this evening behind locked doors (as we'll hear next week). Yet summoned they go, off to the tomb. Young John outpaces old Peter, gets to the tomb first, and when John “stoop[ed] to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there.” Now it's a confusing day, because if you are going to steal a corpse, you take the line cloths. They're wrapped around the body, and they give you a way to carry it – a ready made stretcher. Why would they be laying there?
Peter, slower but bolder, barges in. He actually runs 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. Now it's just a weird day – who folds stuff and puts it away in the middle of a robbery? Who pillages the grave of someone but tidies up at the same time? Peter and John just don't understand, it is a baffling day. And then they just go home. There's no enemies here, we don't know what's going on – but let's head home and hide some more.
And Mary is left alone. What a lonely day. Ditched by the very people she had gone to for help. And Mary, in the midst of her tears, finally looks inside. And there are angels – how wondrous, right? Not yet, actually. Throughout history, since the fall, angels had to tell people not to be afraid, had to cut through terror before they could talk... and here's Mary, on this joyous morning as they have good, great, wondrous news... and she's not even really noticing them. She's so caught up in sorrow that she basically ignores them. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Even the angels are baffled at this – this isn't how people react when angels show up, angels don't get ignored. Well, they do today. Through her sobbing, Mary mopes “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Then she just turns her backs on the angels, uninterested in them. I don't think that happens any where else in the Scriptures – that's a new one.
And Mary turns around and she sees Jesus standing in front of her – except, she doesn't really see Jesus, doesn't recognize Him, she doesn't realize it's Him. Because that's the sort of day it's been for Mary – just all messed up. Jesus said to her, “Why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Oh, this is a fantastic line from Jesus. This is a great set up – it would be typical for people to be crying in a cemetery, crying by a tomb. If you ever come across someone in a graveyard and they are crying, you don't really have to ask them why. So Jesus adds on the “Whom are you seeking?” Now, understand what this question is – you know in a movie where the bad guys are hunting the hero, and the hero pops out and says, “Oh, were you looking for me” and then saves the day. That's what this line is – this is Jesus' “ta-da” moment... and Mary misses it. Completely. 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.” Ta-da indeed. Now it's a deflating day – Christ the Lord is ris...[dour sigh]. But that's the thing – Mary doesn't see Jesus yet, this day, she doesn't know Jesus yet this day, not the risen Jesus, not the living Jesus, not the Heroic, Victorious, Life and Salvation bringing Jesus. And so Mary is still trapped in one of the old, dark, dirty, dour, depressing, desperate days. She doesn't know what day it is yet.
Time to have Mary see. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Mary, come on, get with the program. I'm not dead, not anymore, because I have been raised from the dead, just like I had told you I would be. I had said everything was finished, I took up the burden of sin and death – this is what had to come next. Christ the Lord is Risen today, Alleluia. Now all the vault of heaven resounds, because that vault over there is empty. Look, your Redeemer lives – like even old Job knew I would!
And now finally, only when she hears her name, for faith comes by hearing, does Mary see what day it is. The Day of resurrection, the New Day, the Day that undoes all those dark days, the day the points to the Last Day where all the dead will be raised and it will be joyous and wondrous and everything made right and of course we're in a Garden, but it's not the Garden where man fell, now it's the Garden where a Man, the Man, Christ Jesus rose. Death has given way to life, the life of Jesus. And He's real, Mary sees Jesus, and she cries out teacher – and then she, well, I'm going to use a very technical term... Mary glomps Him. Just double arm wrap and stuck there and not going anywhere. This is why Jesus says, “Do not cling to me...” except that sounds too formal in English. The word literally means to fasten to someone, to stick to them like glue. So, a glomp. But Jesus has some stuff to do – yes, I am risen Mary, but I probably should report in to the Father, report in person, as a living man, to the Father, I should declare in person that My job is done. So I'm going to do that, and I will see you later – but you go tell the Disciples what's going on. Got it? And Mary does – she heads to the disciples again, and she tells them what this day really is, the Day of Resurrection. The Lord's Day.
My dear friends in Christ, we all see many sorts of days in our time here on Earth. And we all know that some days are rougher than others. And many days are down right miserable. And I mean that truly, honestly. Mary, Peter, John – they were all having horrible days as our Gospel text begins – truly wretched days. They happen – and when they come upon us, they dominate our vision, and understandably so. Sometimes necessarily so – because there are times when loving your neighbor means hardship and suffering – Good Friday happened. But there is something else to see, to know, to understand. If we spoke Spanish, we wouldn't call this “Sunday” - we'd call it “Domingo” - the Lord's Day. Because it is – it is the first day of the week, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, the day which means all other days you face, whether they be filled with wonder or filled with struggle, all other days yield to this one. Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, sin is forgiven, death is defeated, and Satan cannot gainsay any of it. And in fact, in truth, in reality, every day is the Lord's Day, a day where Christ Jesus comes to you in His Word, in His Supper, to open your ears and your eyes and have you taste and see that the Lord is God – a new first day, again and again, where you are forgiven and have life in Christ's name. Cling not, but hear, take and eat, take and drink – see, Christ is here with forgiveness, life, and salvation for you. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Because whatever the day brings, whatever is put on your plate – Jesus is risen, and He is risen for you. And even if in your sorrow or our busyiness or whatever you don't see Him clearly – Jesus sees you clearly. He has even called you by name right there at the font, and you are bound to Him, tied to Him, fastened to Him for a resurrection of your own and eternal life. In Christ Jesus, Risen from the dead, my friends, all of you, have a joyous Easter Day. Amen. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, alleluia! +
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