Happy Easter! Does the Resurrection Matter?
John 20:1-18
1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
Have you ever found yourself unable to make sense of what's going on? Something is impossible to understand – you've got to see it for yourself to believe it. The disciples didn't know what was happening; they had shamefully all left Jesus' side. Though Judas became famous for his betrayal of Jesus, none of his disciples really stuck in there with him in his most troubling time.
Now Mary Magdalene has found the tomb open and empty! The disciples came running – the least they could do was know where the body of their Rabbi was. They came to find a puzzling sight; the stone was rolled away and the burial cloths folded neatly – not strewn carelessly as if grave robbers had broken in.
The disciples realized what had happened – because Jesus had told them what would happen. The strange thing here is what happened next – and I want you to get this – they went home. Can you imagine it? They believed... but they went home anyway.
Contrast that reaction to Mary Magdalene's. She stayed there on the spot. And it was then that she met the angels... but their appearance didn't seem to faze her! Unlike the shepherds in the Christmas story, she didn't tremble in fear. Instead she asked them where Jesus was... she was still looking for a body.
All of a sudden, there He was. Although she knew Him before the resurrection, and though she had a conversation with Him, she didn't recognize Him.
She finally recognized Him when He called her by name.
Jesus' resurrection makes all the difference in the world. In His death, He took the sins of the entire world onto Himself and buried them. But in rising again, He defeated death. In defeating death, He bridged the gap for us from mortality to immortality, from time and space to eternity. He did this for you, even before you recognized him.
How do you react to this?
Will you behave like the disciples initially did? You know that something has happened, but you're not willing to stick around and investigate. Life is easier if you just go home – go back to the way of life you've always known. Don't make any ripples. Just go home and don't be bothered. You've made an effort to come and see, and if you thought about what you've heard and seen, there are things that may intrigue you, but you'd rather not be bothered. You're too busy for it.
Or
You find all sorts of good things around you, but you don't recognize what Jesus is doing. Maybe you participate in church, but you want it your way. You judge a worship service based on your personal preference. Did they sing your favorite songs? Did you like the special music? Did the sermon make you feel warm and fuzzy? You have your own purposes to meet when you come to worship, and if things aren't what you expect, then you miss Jesus' presence altogether.
Or
Do you recognize Jesus? Jesus calls you by name and you recognize Him! Thing weren't as you expected them to be, but in the midst of it, there was Jesus! But then, as you fall at his feet to worship Him, He tells you, “Don't cling to me.”
Why on earth would Jesus tell someone who loves him, “Don't cling to me”? Jesus already told his disciples why that was. In John 14, he told them that the one who believed in Him would do the works that He does and even greater works! He went on to tell them that they would receive the Holy Spirit, who would be in them.
We who recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. And just as Jesus gave Mary Magdalene a job to do, so too does He give us a job. Jesus told Mary to go tell His brothers that he was alive.
The resurrection means everything, because without it, he was just an unfortunate martyr. But because of it, we know He is alive and that we, too, can live again, that this life isn't the end of things.
We who believe in Him have been adopted into His family as His brothers and sisters. And the world is full of those who do not yet know that adoption – they aren't in the family simply because they haven't accepted it! They don't know that this life isn't the end, and we have been given the task to tell them the good news, “Jesus is alive! - and you can live, too!”
1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
Have you ever found yourself unable to make sense of what's going on? Something is impossible to understand – you've got to see it for yourself to believe it. The disciples didn't know what was happening; they had shamefully all left Jesus' side. Though Judas became famous for his betrayal of Jesus, none of his disciples really stuck in there with him in his most troubling time.
Now Mary Magdalene has found the tomb open and empty! The disciples came running – the least they could do was know where the body of their Rabbi was. They came to find a puzzling sight; the stone was rolled away and the burial cloths folded neatly – not strewn carelessly as if grave robbers had broken in.
The disciples realized what had happened – because Jesus had told them what would happen. The strange thing here is what happened next – and I want you to get this – they went home. Can you imagine it? They believed... but they went home anyway.
Contrast that reaction to Mary Magdalene's. She stayed there on the spot. And it was then that she met the angels... but their appearance didn't seem to faze her! Unlike the shepherds in the Christmas story, she didn't tremble in fear. Instead she asked them where Jesus was... she was still looking for a body.
All of a sudden, there He was. Although she knew Him before the resurrection, and though she had a conversation with Him, she didn't recognize Him.
She finally recognized Him when He called her by name.
Jesus' resurrection makes all the difference in the world. In His death, He took the sins of the entire world onto Himself and buried them. But in rising again, He defeated death. In defeating death, He bridged the gap for us from mortality to immortality, from time and space to eternity. He did this for you, even before you recognized him.
How do you react to this?
Will you behave like the disciples initially did? You know that something has happened, but you're not willing to stick around and investigate. Life is easier if you just go home – go back to the way of life you've always known. Don't make any ripples. Just go home and don't be bothered. You've made an effort to come and see, and if you thought about what you've heard and seen, there are things that may intrigue you, but you'd rather not be bothered. You're too busy for it.
Or
You find all sorts of good things around you, but you don't recognize what Jesus is doing. Maybe you participate in church, but you want it your way. You judge a worship service based on your personal preference. Did they sing your favorite songs? Did you like the special music? Did the sermon make you feel warm and fuzzy? You have your own purposes to meet when you come to worship, and if things aren't what you expect, then you miss Jesus' presence altogether.
Or
Do you recognize Jesus? Jesus calls you by name and you recognize Him! Thing weren't as you expected them to be, but in the midst of it, there was Jesus! But then, as you fall at his feet to worship Him, He tells you, “Don't cling to me.”
Why on earth would Jesus tell someone who loves him, “Don't cling to me”? Jesus already told his disciples why that was. In John 14, he told them that the one who believed in Him would do the works that He does and even greater works! He went on to tell them that they would receive the Holy Spirit, who would be in them.
We who recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. And just as Jesus gave Mary Magdalene a job to do, so too does He give us a job. Jesus told Mary to go tell His brothers that he was alive.
The resurrection means everything, because without it, he was just an unfortunate martyr. But because of it, we know He is alive and that we, too, can live again, that this life isn't the end of things.
We who believe in Him have been adopted into His family as His brothers and sisters. And the world is full of those who do not yet know that adoption – they aren't in the family simply because they haven't accepted it! They don't know that this life isn't the end, and we have been given the task to tell them the good news, “Jesus is alive! - and you can live, too!”
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