Come and See

Happy Easter everyone. I don’t think that any of us expected that the pandemic would last until another Easter let alone still be working our way out of it when we first thought about it. It is the unexpected that our world throws at us and it is the unexpected that our God does best when it comes to the ways that we are loved and forgiven. That is unexpected is most fully realized in the resurrection the Easter story we just heard moments ago.

One of the unexpected parts of our story is that it is the women that go to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for his final resting place. I guess you could say that’s not totally unexpected that they were the ones going to place the spices and do everything. We’ll get to the actual unexpected part in a minute. One of the beautiful parts of the story that maybe we gloss over is that it was at early dawn. As in, the women went to prepare Jesus’ body as early as possible for them to be out during the day. Sabbath ended on Saturday at sunset but there was no way for them to visit even though Sabbath work was not an issue, it was more a matter of not being out at night. So the first moment they are able to be out and on their way to the tomb they are. They go to seek out his body.

The part that is unexpected is that the two men in dazzling clothes appear to the women and declare the Easter story. They tell them the same passion story that Jesus had told the disciples only this time they are on the other side and the women remember what had been told them before. The unexpected is that it was both women that were told of Jesus actual resurrection and it was not one of the 12 disciples let alone one of the inner 3 of those disciples. God uses the moment of love of the women coming to prepare Jesus’ body as the way to declare that everything told them has been fulfilled. It is that same unexpected way of declaring Easter that causes all but Peter to view it as nonsense. Peter goes and sees and is amazed at what he sees.

As I mentioned it is unexpected andI love that, and what also strikes me about this is that the women go and see and discover an empty tomb and they remembered everything. Then Peter goes and sees and is amazed at what he saw. Which is also juxtaposed by the other 10 disciples not going and not seeing and thinking it was simply an idle tale or nonsense. It reminded me of a book I read years ago by the author Lee Strobel. The book is called, “The Case for Christ”. He has written several others since this initial book, but this was the first one he wrote. Lee is primarily a reporter and when his wife came and told him that she was going to be a Christian he couldn’t believe it and put his reporting and investigative skills to their paces searching for evidence of the case of Christ. He searched and interviewed people throughout his book and in the end after looking for and gathering evidence Lee, an atheist and I would also say a practicalist, comes to the conclusion that Jesus really is who Christians say he is and he then becomes a Christian himself. I started the book again and haven’t gotten through it but it really is incredible to see him compare his old investigative stories to the one for Christ and how he pulled no stops in getting to the truth, only to discover the truth is that the gospel is truth.

You see, Lee Strobel, even though his coming and seeing was primarily, I believe, for the purpose of disproving that there was actual evidence and truth in the story of Christ, saw the truth of the gospel message, but in evidence, but also in what the story is and means. Lee’s story occurs centuries after the women at the tomb and Peter at the tomb, but the story is the same. The went and saw and in that seeking, a powerful experience of faith encountered them. If we go and seek out the risen Jesus, there’s no knowing what powerful experience we might have with the risen Jesus.

If we take a look at scripture we see stories of what coming and seeing does for people as well. In John’s gospel we hear John the Baptist declare Jesus the Lamb of God and two of John’s disciples then go to see Jesus and ask where he is staying and Jesus says to them, “come and see”.

Then Jesus finds and calls Philip to follow him and Philip goes and finds Nathanael, whom he tells that the man whom Moses and the prophets spoke is Jesus of Nazareth and we hear Nathanael’s famous response of, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” To which Philip replies, “come and see”.

In Psalm 66:5 the psalmist invites people to come and see what God has done and then goes on to share how God saved them from Egypt by parting the sea for them to pass through and eventually to the promised land. Then in Psalm 66:17 the psalmist invites people to come and hear while he tells them what God has done for him.

Finally I want to point out the resurrection story from Matthew 28:4-6. When the women come to the tomb just as in Luke the angel invites the women to come and see where he was and how he’s no longer there.

I believe the power of the gospel. The power of the Easter message comes through an invitation to others to come and see. The gospel story, the power of Easter is an experience. It is not a tale to be read, but a story to experience, and an encounter to be felt seen and heard. That doesn’t mean that the experience is seen and felt the same way because clearly we see how through the women at the tomb and Peter experience Easter in different ways. In the actual text today the other 10 disciples are actually still in the sorrow of Friday and Saturday. They are still waiting. They experience the risen Jesus in another way. It is when Jesus appears to them and invites them to touch and see his wounds and feel that he is risen and not a ghost in Luke 24:36-40. Again the invitation to come and see. To see his wounds to come and touch his physical body.

Come and see. Touch and see. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Our faith, our relationship with God, with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is an experience by which we encounter our risen Savior. It is an active participation in the work of God in this world. Easter is about the power of God to conquer death and the grave. It is the proof that the cross forgives our sins and that through it we have everlasting life. Easter is the fulfillment of all scripture. It is God inviting us to come and see EVERYTHING that God has done for us. EVERYTHING that has been done and is being done in this world is evidence of God’s great love for us. EVERYTHING we see and experience is proof that we are God’s children and that God will stop at NOTHING for us to come and see that we are beloved children of God, and that through that holy experience that we live out in our lives continues to make us aware of the forgiveness, grace, and love that we have from God our creator, Jesus Christ our savior, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Come and see. Amen.