Are we there yet
Are we there yet?
John 20:1-18
If you like seeing comedies, sooner or later you will see a movie that contains a scene in which they have one or more children asking the parent that is driving: “are we there yet?” Movie makers like to use the impatience of children for comedy situations, especially when they are force to sit still for long hours. But we all know that some of us, adults, are as impatient or maybe more so than most children. Some of us have labeled ourselves as a task oriented person; that means that they work on an issue and try to finish it as soon as possible so they can move on to the next task. Those of us that are task oriented miss many things because our minds are set on the finish line. When a task oriented person is driving they see the driving time as a necessary process that will help them get to their final destination; the shorter the driving time the better.
They do not look out their car windows and enjoy the surroundings; that’s not part of the task, the task is to go from Freehold, to New York City and everything in between is to be passed as rapidly as possible. The only thing that counts is getting to New York City. In fact they would evaluate themselves in terms of how fast they arrived at their destination; the sooner the better. Any car that is directly in front of them is slowing their progress, even if the car is going at the same speed they are going. They need to drive with no car in front of them; they want to see the horizon calling them forward. Why they do that? Why are they in such a hurry? One reason and one reason only. They are task oriented; and the task is to arrive at their destination. Are we there yet?
The problem with task oriented people is that they tend to miss a lot in the process. Have you ever left a sporting event early, knowing full well that the game was over and wanting to leave before all the other people so that you could avoid the traffic? Your team lost, you are not happy and having to deal with the traffic will only add to your frustration. You make it your personal goal to get home as soon as possible. You get home and while watching the news they report that in the last inning of the game your team came back and set all kinds of records. The reporter keep replaying that part of the game, while the commentator stresses that it was the play of the century. Too many times leaving too soon will leave behind too many regrets.
The last time that the women saw Jesus, he was dead and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were carrying his body to be buried in a nearby garden. I assume that they followed them from afar, far enough so as not to make themselves ineligible to attend worship on the Sabbath. The burial was done in a hurry since the Sabbath was only hours away. The women made it back in time to attend the temple. In the temple they saw those that were exchanging the coins for the offering and those that were in the business of animal sale for the sacrifice. Jesus was dead only hours and everything in the temple was back to normal. After worship they gathered home to remember their time with Jesus; to tell stories of the things he said and did. They could not believe that it was all over, they expected the kingdom of God to be established by Jesus; not to attend his funeral.
They waited patiently for the Sabbath to be over, and then early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome the mother of John and James, and Joanna went to the tomb. They were ready to prepare Jesus body properly for his final burial. As they walked towards the garden, they were wondering how they were going to move the stone that they saw Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and their servant place in front of the tomb. But when they arrived at the garden they saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. Mary Magdalene left the other women and went running to Simon Peter and John, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and John ran towards the tomb. John reached the tomb first bent over and looked in but did not go in. When Peter arrived, he immediately went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Then John also went inside. The gospel of John tells us that “He saw and believed.” John believed what? That Jesus resurrected? No, he believed what Mary Magdalene had reported, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” Peter and John went each to their own home believing that not only have they lost their teacher, but now they did not even had a tomb to visit and pay their respect. I wonder if John began to plan how he was going to tell Mary, the mother of Jesus; that was by now staying in his home, about the disappearance of Jesus body.
By the time Mary Magdalene came back she found that the rest of the women were gone, as well as Peter and John. Mary found herself all alone, standing outside the tomb crying. She was feeling the lost, not only of her teacher; not only of the one man that dare deal with her demons, but with the lost of the opportunity to show respect to his dead body. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, Teacher! Jesus said, stop holding on to me, go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” The gospel of Mark tells us that when she went and told those who had been with Jesus and who were still mourning and weeping, they did not believe it.
Imagine that, the other women, Peter and John left too early. They missed seeing Jesus alive. They missed being part of the first ones to see the resurrection of their teacher. Jesus was alive and they were home still mourning and weeping for him. They were behind lock doors for fear of persecution; they were depressed and hopeless. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two other disciples decided to go back to their business of fishing. They were already trying to go back to their life before they met Jesus. All this suffering because they left to early, they left believing that it was the last inning and their team has lost.
Psalm 46 place this words in God’s mouth, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” God loves to be with us. God want to spend time with me. I do not know why. There are times I do not want to be around myself, but God never. God is always seeking to be with us. The prophet Isaiah in talking about the promised one to come said; “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.” When you come to worship, are you extremely concern with the things you need to do after the service or are you ready to wait until the love our of life appears. Mary Magdalene waited along in the garden. Austin Miles in 1913 wrote hymn 314 “In the Garden.”