The Resurrection

Little Joey, 4 yo son of an undertaker, heard about Jesus’ Resurrection one Easter. He was puzzled. “Did Jesus really rise up from the dead?” “Oh, yes,” his teacher said. Little Joey shook his head. “If my daddy had taken care of Him, He’d never get up again!!” The truth? Nothing could hold Jesus in the grave. Nothing! Let’s look at Jn 20:1-18. 1aAt zero-dark-thirty on the 1st day of the week, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome (Mt 28:1, Mk 16:1), & Joanna (Lk 24:10) went to the tomb. Why? In part, it was custom to visit a tomb for 3 days after a loved-one died. And for Jesus, Sabbath cut short Joseph of Arimathea’s attempt to embalm Jesus on Friday. So, before dawn on Monday, the women set out to finish. As they approach the garden tomb, a violent earthquake scares them. Temple guards at the tomb are startled awake. When the guards see an angel roll back the stone, they drop to the ground, paralyzed in terror. Meanwhile, the women enter the garden. In the pre-dawn twilight, 1bthey see the heavy stone rolled back from the entrance. At once, Mary assumes Jesus’ body is missing, & 2she runs back to Simon Peter & the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. Who’s telling this story? John. See how he likes to throw Peter under a bus? Peter may have denied Jesus, but he’s still their leader. Mary arrives, breathless. Her words spill out. 2c“They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him!” Meanwhile, the other women get close enough to see the angel sitting on the stone! He tells them (Mt 28:5-6), 5a“Don’t be afraid! I know you seek Jesus, who was crucified. 6He isn’t here. He’s risen, just as he said. Come & see where he lay.” As they look, the angel continues, “Go & tell the others.” They run back to the disciples with the good news. “Jesus is risen!” As they head back, 3Peter & the other disciple (John) race for the tomb. Mary follows. 4aPeter & John both run, but John outruns Peter & reaches the tomb 1st. (John makes Peter look bad every chance he gets. I can almost hear John, “Beat ya! Neener, neener, neener!”) 5aJohn bent over & looked into the tomb at the strips of linen lying there. He looked; Greek βλέπω. “I spy with my little eye.” A casual look. 5bBut he didn’t go in. What he saw didn’t register. 6aThen Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived. And, as usual, Peter shoves past John. Right 6binto the tomb. 6cPeter saw the strips of linen lying there. He saw, too. This time, it’s Greek θεωρέω. He sees & theorizes—thinks about what he sees. He also sees & theorizes about 7athe burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. Why? 7bThe cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Peter sees & starts wondering. “What could’ve happened?” 8aFinally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb 1st, also went inside. John throws Peter under a bus again! 8bJohn saw & believed. He saw. But this time is a different Greek word, εἶδον. John loved Jesus. His reward? He saw with understanding! And thus he’s 1st to come to faith in the risen Christ! He believes! He faiths. John is 1st to come to faith without seeing Jesus. Just as we do. Still, we wonder. Didn’t Jesus tell the disciples at least 3 times that He’d be crucified? That He’d rise again? Why’s it so hard for them to believe? They, too, are looking in the wrong direction. 9They still didn’t understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Where were they looking? Their old understanding of Scripture’s Messiah. A conquering warrior. Not a crucified Christ. And certainly not coming back from the dead. 10So the disciples went back to their homes. John went, believing. Peter went, still wondering. 11aBut Mary stood outside the tomb crying. She thought John & Peter would explain what happened. But they hadn’t. And she loves Jesus so much! Her loss keeps her looking back. She keeps staring back at the cross. It’s all she can see. 11bAs she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb. Mary has lingered as close to Jesus as she could get. And her love is rewarded. 12aShe saw 2 angels in white, seated at the head & foot where Jesus’ body had been. Angels were overjoyed at Jesus’ birth. Now, He’s conquered death. His Creation is redeemed. The angels cannot joy cannot restrain their joy! 13aThey ask, respectfully, “Woman, why are you crying?” 13b“They’ve taken my Lord away,” said Mary. Even now, she’s looking in the wrong direction1 Does she even recognize that they’re angels?? 13b“I don’t know where they’ve put him.” All she can see is Jesus on the cross! She expects & wants to find His broken, dead body! 14aAt this, she turns around & sees Jesus standing there. But she’s still looking the wrong way. 14bSo she doesn’t realize that it’s Jesus. And He's gentle as He starts to point her away from the past. 15aJesus asked, respectfully, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” 15bShe assumes He’s the gardener. Tears still blind her eyes. 15c“Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him.” She just wants to make things right. 15d“I’ll get him.” Her heart is greater than her body’s strength. Could she really do that? Whether or not she could, her love for Jesus is so great that she receives love’s reward. 16aJesus called to her, “Mary.” When Jesus calls our name, everything changes. 16bShe turns toward him. Finally, Mary turns the right way & sees! She 16ccries out, “My Lord!” Whatever direction we face, turn toward Jesus! What do we see that keeps us from seeing truth? Turn toward Jesus! He’s The Truth. Look to Him, & He’ll help us see truth. 17aJesus said, “Don’t hold on to me! I haven’t yet returned to the Father.” Mary would cling to physical Jesus forever, if He let her. But Jesus has a better plan. If He ascends, He’ll send His Spirit to be with us all. Forever. 17b“Go instead to my brothers.” Jesus’ disciples all got promoted. No longer are they (& we) just Jesus’ servants & students. We’re Jesus’ brothers & sisters! 17vTell them, ‘I’m returning to my Father & your Father, to my God & your God.’ ” If we’re His brothers & sisters, His Father is our Father. Yes, He’s The Son (natural) & we’re adopted sons & daughters. But His Father is our Father! Could there be any better news? 18aMary Magdalene ran back to the disciples with the good news. 18b“I’ve seen the Lord!” She, too, receives love’s reward. Mary, who as a woman wasn’t a legal witness in her culture, was 1st to see Jesus. 18cShe told them what He’d said to her. What are our Easter takeaways? Mary was looking the wrong way. She didn’t look for a living Jesus. She looked for a dead body. One like the body they took off the Cross. Battered & torn beyond recognition. She was looking backwards. At the past. The result? 1st, she ran back & missed the angels. Even when she came back, did she realize she’d seen angels? Even then, at 1st she missed Jesus! She thought He was the gardener. The ordinary. All because she was looking the wrong way. Peter, too, went to the tomb. He may have been 1st to enter the empty tomb, but he, too, went away without seeing Jesus. Why? He, too, was looking the wrong way. At the past. Want to be looking the right way? Look at Jesus. Only through The Truth will we see truth. So what direction are we looking during this COVID-19 crisis? Are we looking at truth—the facts we see that make it seem so scary? Or are we looking at Jesus? Looking at what He’s doing in our world despite all the scary facts? Whatever direction we’re looking, let’s turn toward The Truth. Only He will help us make sense of what’s going on—and what He’s doing. 2nd, notice that Mary & John both love Jesus. They really love Him. For both of them, their eyes of love were opened to Jesus. Peter loved Jesus. But love isn’t how the Gospels remember him. They remember Peter’s leadership. His faith. Not his love. The gospels do remember both Mary & John for their love. Mary, for anointing and wiping his feet with her hair. And John, as the disciple Jesus loved—in response to John’s love. So, want to see Jesus? Then love Him! How many of us really love Him? I don’t mean we’ve had an affair with Jesus. I mean we love Him, we love Him, we love Him! We’ve committed our life to Him in obedience & others see it. How many of us really love Jesus like that? If that’s us, remember John & Mary. It’s the eyes of love that’ll be opened & receive love’s reward. If we want to see Jesus…