Resurrection – What Now?
John 20:1-18
April 5, 2015
During our Sunrise
Service, we explored a seldom-read recollection of the events of the
resurrection, as told in the Gospel of Mark.
We talked about how the women who went to the tomb early in the morning
left “seized by terror and amazement.”
They were afraid. (Mark 16:8). The “What Now” question for them was pretty
simple. They ran.
John recalls the story quite
differently than Mark—this shouldn’t surprise us, because the two accounts were
written from different perspectives and different contexts. Mark reports that
three women made their way to the tomb—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James, and Salome (Mark 16:1); John
recalls that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb alone (John 20:1). While Mark
recalls that the three women “said nothing to anyone” (Mark 16:8), John recalls that Mary immediately ran to tell Peter
and the “other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.” (John 20:2). Mark reports
that the three women saw a young man dressed in white in the tomb (Mark 16:5); John does not report any
meeting between Mary and anyone inside the tomb at this first visit. She finds two angels in the cave after Peter
and the other disciple leave the tomb. (John 20:11).
John gives us a number of
responses by people to the Resurrection.
Let’s focus on three of them.
When Mary returns to the
tomb, running behind Peter and the other disciple, she has a dramatic encounter
in the garden. She fails to recognize
the very one she was there to find. She
mistakes Jesus for the gardener; it is only when she hears Jesus call her by
name that she recognizes Him. (John
20:16). It seems that people
recognize resurrection at their own pace. But that meeting with Jesus changes Mary
completely. At the end of her meeting
with Jesus, she returns to the disciples to proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18).
Then there is the reaction of
Peter and the other disciple. They
engage what sounds almost humorous—the other disciple gets there first but remains
outside. Peter, bold impetuous Peter,
charges right past him and sees the linen cloths folded neatly and placed on
the place where Jesus had been laid. We
are not told anything about the emotions that Peter experienced standing
there. It seems that he is standing
back—perhaps remembering with shame that he did, in fact, deny three times that
he even knew Jesus. It’s the other
unnamed disciple –the one that we assume must be John—who “saw and
believed.” (John 20:8).
John then gives us a detail
that sticks in my mind. Then, John says,
“the disciples returned to their homes.” (John
20:9). We get no indication of joy,
of fear or any other emotion. No
connection with the words of Jesus spoken several times indicating that He
would be killed but would rise on the third day. It wasn’t until they personally encountered
the Risen Lord that they dared to give themselves over to joy.
Those words stick in my
mind. After visiting the tomb, the
disciples returned to their homes. It
sounds hauntingly familiar. How many
years have we come together with our families to sing some familiar hymns, to
hear the story proclaimed again, and then we go homes and get on with our lives—business
as usual.
My hope is that this year,
things will be different. Perhaps I
should say that I hope you and I will be different. My deepest hope for this Easter is that you
and I will be changed by the resurrection.
You might say that things
would be different for you, too, if Jesus appeared in our midst. I have news for you. He has!
Jesus is here—in this very room.
This Jesus, who promised to be with us always, even to the end of the
age, has kept his promise. The challenge
is for us to let go of our expectations of what Jesus will look like for us and
open our eyes to the revelation that is here.
How is Jesus revealed here?
Jesus is reflected in the
eyes of the children. In the deepest
yearnings you feel in your soul. Jesus
is here in the songs of “alleluia.”
Jesus is here in the Word proclaimed.
Jesus is here in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.
Jesus is here in the
stirrings you feel—in your desire to know and love God better. In the beating of your heart as you are
challenged to love your neighbor. Jesus
is here in the times of silence. In the
laughter.
Jesus is here, inviting you
to take up your cross and follow Him.
Jesus is here, encouraging you to love God and love your neighbor.
The good news is that we are
no longer dependent upon having Him here in the flesh. By the gift of the Spirit, He is with us
always.
The question for us to
consider is, “Now what?”
What will you do with this
Good News of the resurrection?
Will you go home, business as
usual?
Will go undercover, behind
locked doors, so that you won’t be discovered?
It would be a great tragedy
if you did. Jesus greets us and, in
love, tells us that He gave His life for us, that we might have life more
abundantly (John 10:10), life that
He calls eternal.
Or will you reach out to
embrace Him? To try to hold on to Him?
Or will you follow His
instruction, just as Mary did? He said
to go and tell the Good News.
Will you follow in Mary’s
footsteps?
Will you proclaim, “I have
seen the Lord!”?
In the newsletter this month,
I mention the word that I have missed so much during the past six weeks of
Lent. It is the word, “Alleluia.” It is a word but it is an imperative. It means “Praise the Lord.” We put that word aside during the somber,
reflective season of Lent. But today, we
have Good News and no other word quite expresses the feeling of joy, of hope,
of salvation, of grace. Christ is
Risen. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
The question I ask you is
this: What will you do with this Good
News? Now what?
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