Easter 1997 - He is Risen!

Reading John 20:1-18
“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”   John 20:15a (NIV)

I.    Final Respects

   A.  To the Grave

      1.   When the women went out that morning they went out to attend to a dead Jesus.

         a.   It was a final duty to attend to these burial rituals — a final expression of love and devotion.

      2.   They went expecting to find a dead Jesus

         a.   They could not believe Jesus’ words that on the third day He would rise again — Jesus had said so many things in parables, they believed this must have been too, since people don’t just rise from the dead.

   B.  His body is Gone!

      1.   The Stone was rolled away.

         a.   The Stone was there to protect the body from scavengers — human or animal.

         b.   The moved stone implied someone had tampered with Jesus’ body.

      2.   Mary Magdalene runs to find Peter and John.

         a.   She was horrified at the thought that someone had tampered with Jesus’ body.

      3.   Peter and John run to the cemetery.

         a.   John gets there first and looks in but doesn’t enter.

         b.   Peter, impetuous as ever, doesn’t hesitate and John follows.

         c.   They note the orderly way the burial cloths were arranged.

            (1)    John believes what Jesus had said.

II.   A cemetery Surprise!

   A.  Why do you Cry?

      1.   Mary Magdalene weeps — actually wails, the word used describes the weeping of despair and hopelessness.

         a.   Mary looks in the tomb for the first time and sees two angels.

         b.    They ask “Why do you cry?”

            (1)    Why do they ask it — don’t they know? By asking they imply that she really doesn’t have a good reason for her actions.

            (2)    Mary responds: “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put him.”

               (a)    I have good reason to weep like this.

      2.   The first recorded words of Jesus after His resurrection are these: “Why do you cry?”

         a.   Jesus is concerned with Mary.

         b.   Jesus knows that Mary’s crying is based in a false assumption.

         c.   Mary’s tears are hindering her from seeing what has happened — from seeing who it is that speaks to her.

            (1)    An open tomb, folded burial cloths, a couple of angels, and Jesus’ own words that He would rise.

   B.  Who are you looking for?

      1.   Jesus asks a second question: the most important question in the Bible.

         a.   Who are you looking for?

         b.   Does Mary know who she is looking for after all that had happened?

      2.   Who are you looking for?

         a.   Do you know who is asking the question?

         b.   The comfort for your despair (whatever your despair might be) is in this question: Who are you looking for?

      3.   Mary responds by asking Jesus to point her to Jesus body.

         a.   Her sights are set too low.

         b.   She answers out of what she imagines possible — forgetting that all things are possible with God.

   C.  Jesus speaks her Name

      1.   Jesus doesn’t badger her with finger-shaking reminders of what he said, or tell her off for her lack of faith, or point out her sinful neglect in not paying attention to Jesus’ words.

      2.   He calls her by name.

         a.   He is the good shepherd who knows all His sheep by name.

         b.   His sheep recognize his voice.

      3.   Mary’s eyes are too full of tears to recognize him, her mind too limited to have room for him, but her heart recognizes Him when he says her name.

         a.   Mary sought to fulfill her duty to a dead man.

            (1)    Jesus came to her alive.

         b.   Mary went as a victim of death to attend to another victim of death.

            (1)    Jesus came to her as one who conquered death!

III.  What happens Now?

   A.  Don’t hang on to the Moment

      1.   Mary responds to Him calling her name, by calling Him by His title — “my teacher.”

      2.   Jesus tells her not to hang on to the moment — This moment has meaning far beyond Mary.

      3.   While it is a temptation to hang on to our first encounter with God, our experience of God is incomplete unless we take up the task God has for us.

   B.  Spread the Good News!

      1.   Mary — I called you by name, because I am entrusting you with the most important message in the history of the cosmos:

         a.   Jesus has conquered death.

         b.   Jesus is about to ascend the throne.

      2.   Mary tells the disciples “I have seen the Lord!”

         a.   She listens to Jesus instructions — it’s not up to her to make the message more believable — just to give the message!

         b.   She is not to keep her experience of Jesus to herself.

      3.   It is no mistake that the experience of the resurrected Jesus is linked with instructions to spread the Good News in all 4 Gospels.

         a.   This is not a message intended for private religious devotion, nor does it have a merely private spiritual meaning.

         b.   This fact of the resurrection changes everything — death is defeated, sin is defeated, our relationship with God can now be restored.

         c.   What had been done in the Garden of Eden was undone in this Garden

            (1)    Instead of discovering sin which brought death, we discover Death was defeated and with it the power of sin.

            (2)    We had been sent away from God’s presence in punishment, now we are sent into the world entrusted with a message: He is Risen! Death and Sin have been destroyed. Nothing can separate us from God’s love anymore! He is Risen!

The Bottom Line:

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