Why? pt6

I think verse 1 says it best. “It was still dark...”

When Jesus dies on Good Friday, darkness covers the land. The sun eventually reappeared, and it rose and set on Saturday, but the spiritual darkness was very real. The Man who called Himself the “Light of the World” (John 8:12) lay in the grave. His body cold. His breathing ceased. His heart still. Jesus was dead. And all of creation waited to see what would happen.

That’s the scene we are thrust into in John 20. Jesus is dead. The disciples are in hiding. His opponents have most likely spent the Sabbath day celebrating, thinking they have done a great service to God. The Romans have gone back to their ruling and politics, save for a detachment of soldiers assigned the boring duty of guarding a dead body to make sure no one steals it.

Only one thing can make this any different. God is at work.

And see that’s what could make today different in your life. While some of us sit here, excited and rejoicing, celebrating the anniversary of a day that changed our lives, some of you sit there in darkness. Not physical darkness, but spiritual darkness. Wondering why this day is so special, and if it could ever have any significance for you.

You are not alone. That’s the way all of the people in this passage this morning felt. Some came to prepare a body for permanent burial. Some came thinking their friend’s body had been taken. One stayed behind, and saw hope with her very eyes. And that’s what I am praying for this morning. That one person would linger long enough, consider hard enough, that what happened on Resurrection morning was for you, and your life could change today if only you would just follow the prompting of God and believe.

But, let’s look at the text. What happens on this morning...

(Read v1-10)

Let’s start back at the darkness. Mary Magdalene is up early to come to the tomb. They know where Jesus is buried, and we know from other Gospels that she and Mary, Jesus’ mother, come to the tomb to anoint the body for burial.

And when she arrives the stone is moved. And she freaks out. That’s the only way I can describe it. This is not a stone that would have moved accidently. It was big and heavy, and there had been a detachment of Roman guards there. For the stone to be moved, someone had to have been on a mission. And most likely up to no good. So she runs back to town and gets John and Peter. She is convinced that Jesus body has been moved.

The disciples senes the urgency. Verse 3 tells us John wins the footrace and when he looks in the tomb, he sees the burial clothes, but no body. Then Peter shows up, and he enters the tomb and confirms…no body, just the wrappings. And the face cloth, folded up and placed to the side.

Then John enters the tomb, and verse 8 tells us, he is the first to begin to believe, to hope, that Jesus is no longer dead. He has come back to life…and they leave. They still don’t fully grasp the implications of what has happened…but the spark is there.

But Mary stays…(read v11-16)

She stays and mourns. The disciples don’t tell her their thoughts, or what they have seen, and she looks in the tomb and finds it occupied. There are two angels, and they start to ask her the dumbest question- why are you crying?

And she turns away and sees a man…she thinks- this is the guy in charge of the garden, maybe he took the body and she starts to ask him- where is the body…tell me where He is! I will take care of Him!

And then, the impossible happens, Jesus calls her by name. And she knows.

John 12–21 (3) Mary Magdalene—Part 2: The First Appearance (20:11–18)

Mary’s response was immediate, for her cries of sorrow turned to a word of exclamation and personal association. The evangelist captured the interchange in two singular statements. For Jesus it was “Miriam”; for Mary it was “Rabbouni” (my dear Rabbi

Friends, I want you to know today, you are here, or listening online because Jesus has not given up on you. He is standing patiently waiting for you to recognize Him and He is calling your name.

He wants to set you free from your sins and your past in the same way He was set free from those grave clothes. He wants to unveil your face and set your body free to follow Him in a different way of life, one you could never imagine, and one that can happen right now, because of what happened 2000 years ago today.

Why would you delay? Why would you say no? He is calling your name!

And, follower of Jesus, this day is a day of celebration for us, but it is a day of challenge as well. Like Mary, Jesus is reminding us, we are not to simply cling to our own joy in our salvation, we are to go and tell others!

Look at verse 17-18

John 12–21 (3) Mary Magdalene—Part 2: The First Appearance (20:11–18)

The purpose of this ascent statement must have been to indicate to Mary that the way of relating to the resurrected Lord would no longer be through the physical senses because the ascent would terminate such encounters. Accordingly, clinging to the physical patterns of the preresurrected Lord was no longer possible. Even her efforts at revering a body in a tomb were gone because the tomb was empty

Jesus is leaving the earth, returning to His rightful place on the throne, and leaving the message to us. We are to go and tell. And what does Mary do? Consumed in her own joy and excitement she goes and tells the disciples…I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!

Will you take up that message as well today?