April 21, 2019 (Easter Sunday) – John 20:1-18
John 20:1-18
Easter is Something We Become
Resurrection of Our Lord – Easter Sunday – April 21, 2019
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
John’s version of Jesus’ resurrection has many things in common with
the other three Gospel accounts.
There is always an empty tomb.
Women always find it first.
Mary Magdalene is always among those women.
And heavenly messengers always appear in the empty tomb.
John, though, also includes details that the other accounts do not.
For one thing there is the neatly folded burial cloths,
causing me to think that Jesus was himself a disciple . . . a disciple of Marie Kondo!
Those neatly folded burial cloths also beg the question that
2000 years of commentators have asked:
what, exactly, was the risen Jesus wearing?
Then, too, there is the detail of Peter and the Beloved Disciple racing to see who could
get to the empty tomb first.
One ancient commentator explains that the Beloved Disciple obviously was
faster than Peter because he wasn’t married.
I have no idea what that means.
Also: John is the only gospel that sets the tomb in a garden.
Perhaps it is meant to invoke the Garden of Eden and the New Creation that
Jesus’ resurrection brings.
And perhaps it is meant to call to mind the Garden setting of the Song of Solomon –
John does echo a lot of the language from the Song of Solomon in
describing Jesus’ encounter with Mary, which emphasizes the
intimate, emotional nature of their encounter.
“I am my beloved’s,” says the woman in the poem, “and my beloved is mine.”
And we think, yes: yes: that is true for all of us who encounter the risen Jesus.
But what does it mean, exactly, to encounter the risen Jesus?
Well, another distinct thing to notice in John’s account is that Mary first comes “in the dark.”
She does not come “at dawn” as in the other accounts – she comes first at night.
The resurrection – mysteriously – happened at night, in total darkness, when no one could see it.
The resurrection, finally, is a mystery known only to God.
God worked, in secret, to bring life out of death, to bring healing from misery.
How these things happen in our lives may be mysterious to us, but they happen nonetheless.
And that is good news on this Easter Sunday morning.
Out of darkness, God mysteriously – and miraculously – brings light.
Something else that only John tells us about is Mary lingering, alone, at the tomb,
after Peter and the Beloved Disciple leave her.
Mary chooses to remain in the dark – still bewildered, still bereft.
She remains present and lingers in the barren place.
It’s not easy – she is weeping, she is completely bereft.
But she doesn’t run from it – she remains there.
Perhaps she is the one who knows Jesus best of all.
Perhaps she knows that Jesus always shows up in the most barren, bereft places.
For he always has in the past: the place in Cana with no wine,
the place in the desert with no food, the place in town with no healing.
These are the places Jesus comes.
Maybe, perhaps, she knows more than Peter and the Beloved Disciple –
perhaps she knows enough to simply stay.
And sure enough: Jesus comes in the dark –
and Mary encounters him because she stays long enough in the hard place.
But isn’t it interesting that she doesn’t recognize him at first –
because it is not always easy to know how Jesus will come to the hard place.
Jesus is full of surprises.
Perhaps he didn’t look like what she was expecting.
Perhaps, despite her hoping, she really didn’t expect him to be alive.
But how true to life is that?
Sometimes we do not see the good things right in front of us because we’re not expecting them
or we are looking for something else.
All of which brings us to the point: what are you expecting this morning?
If you’re expecting a story of something that happened 2000 years ago, you’ll get that.
But . . . you’ll be missing something else – you’ll be missing the point of Jesus’ resurrection.
The point of the resurrection is that Jesus’ story is not over.
The point is that love is stronger than death.
The point is that justice is stronger than injustice.
The point is that Jesus’ and his troublemaking go merrily on.
The point is not hope for 2000 years ago – the point is for hope now.
Jesus commissioned Mary 2000 years ago to go tell the good news!
Jesus commissioned the other disciples 2000 years ago to continue his mission to
love, bless, and heal this world and every person in it.
And the point of Jesus being raised from death is that this morning Jesus commissions you.
Linger in the dark places a while – and there you will encounter the risen one.
There the risen one will comfort you, bring you good news, and commission you to share it in
word and in deed.
Here’s the thing: Easter is not just something that happened.
Easter is something we become.
Last year I told you how in orthodox paintings of the resurrection Jesus his always grabbing
dead people by the hand and dragging them up with him.
Yes: he grabbed Mary Magdalene!
He grabbed Peter and the Beloved Disciple!
And this morning . . . this morning we are the dead people!
We are weighed down by worry and we are dead in despair.
We are enervated by ennui and we are mired in mirthlessness.
Grief and bad news and the passing of time take their toll.
Illness and addiction and a million other things wear us down.
But this morning – this morning – there is a hand reaching out to pull us up from
whatever is dragging us down.
That hand pulled Mary up – it pulled up Peter and the Beloved Disciple.
And this morning it pulls us up.
Jesus was raised to save us from our least selves,
so that we might stay true to the very best within us.
Easter is something we become.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams once said:
the believer’s life is a testimony to the risen Jesus.
The believer’s life is a testimony to the risen Jesus.
On this morning, you have already become the risen Jesus.
By your gathering here, at Sargent and Victor, in the West End of Winnipeg,
you are a testimony to the presence of the risen Jesus in this place.
With your bodies, you witness to God’s love for this neighbourhood.
With your offerings you testify to God’s love for this place and the people who live here.
With your bodies and with your offerings you make this place a garden where
so many people encounter the lovely, risen Jesus:
here people experience his hospitality.
here people experience his respect.
here people experience his generous feeding.
Here people experience their belovedness, 52 weeks a year,
where up to 80 West End families receive groceries every week and
where over 3000 meals are served to our neighbours every year.
Here, at Sargent and Victor, you have become the risen Christ,
taking people by the hand, and lifting them up –
through your amazing volunteerism and your generous offerings.
In the end, if you’re looking for evidence of the resurrection,
you need look no further than this assembly this morning.
If you’re looking for hope, you need look no further than this assembly this morning.
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
With Mary, let us linger in the dark, barren places, confident Jesus will come.
With her let us acknowledge that the risen Jesus may not always look like what we expect.
And with her, and with Peter and the Beloved Disciple and with
all the witnesses of the resurrection of every time and every place, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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