Podcast of "Come and See" (MP3)
Jeremiah 31:1-6
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Acts 10:34:43
John 20:1-18
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
I ended last week’s sermon,[1] with these words:
The powder keg is lit and it leads to Pilate and the glory of Rome Temple
In the mean time, much will happen:
There will be prophecy, and there will be prophecy fulfilled.
There will be scrutiny, and there will be examination.
There will be a supper, and there will be a betrayal.
There will be a trial, and there will be a judgment.
There will be a torturous death.
Surely by now the people would have thought that the powder keg had blown. The people have seen the Lord’s betrayal on Maundy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. The unthinkable has happened, the Lord God is dead. But that wasn’t the end of the sermon, and death was not the end of the Lord as we heard in today’s reading.
It’s early on the first day of the week. The Sabbath is coming to an end, but it’s still dark. Until the sun rises it’s still the Sabbath and Jews don’t leave their homes until the Sabbath ends.
Not Mary Magdalene, she’s gone to the tomb. The Chief Priests wouldn’t be out and about yet, but the Romans would be. If she is found she could be in trouble. For violating the Sabbath certainly, but if she is found at the tomb they would assume she was one of Jesus’ partners in revolution. This the Romans would not take lightly.
When she comes to the tomb she sees that the stone had been removed from the entrance. Scripture is silent, but perhaps she looked into the open tomb, for just a moment. If she didn’t look in, she must have had a sinking feeling in her heart. Either way, she had come to the correct conclusion. Jesus’ body was not there.
She has come and she has seen and Jesus was gone.
The Lord is not there, how can this be? Mary sees the open tomb, overwhelmed by grief and maybe by panic she runs to Simon Peter and the beloved disciple to tell them. The Lord has been taken from the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him.
Mary’s panic is shared by the two disciples. They run together, Peter falling behind as they race to the tomb. The other disciple arrives first, looking in he sees only the linen that had been wrapped around Jesus. Peter arrives on his heels and we read that he is the first who dares to enter. Peter too sees the cloths that had been around his body and the wrapping that had covered his head and face folded, set aside by itself.
After the other disciple entered the tomb, they saw and they believed. They believed that he was gone. Simon Peter and the beloved disciple; they had entered the tomb of their Lord and Master, and his body was gone. Scripture is silent, but would I be wrong to think they were devastated? He is tried, he is crucified, and now he is gone.
They have come and they have seen and Jesus was gone.
Logic says he was taken. If the authorities thought that they had taken him, if they thought these disciples had taken this rabble rouser’s body to cause more religious unrest, then they would be next on the Pharisees’ and Pilate’s enemies list.
They didn’t understand what had happened. They didn’t understand the scripture. So they did what seemed sensible. They needed to sort out what was happening. They needed to mourn. They may have needed to hide. So they went home.
Mary remains crying at the tomb. Her Lord is dead and missing. The two people she shares her worries with have abandoned her. She is alone again. She is lost. She is distraught. She cries and she looks into the tomb. What else can she do?
Suddenly she finds two angels sitting in the tomb. They ask why she is crying. She repeats her lament, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Can you hear her heart breaking? Flowery speeches are unnecessary. “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then, she turns and sees a man she doesn’t recognize standing before her. Who is this man? she wonders. Did he take the body of the Lord?
He breaks the momentary silence repeating the angels’ question, “Woman, why are you crying?” adding “Who is it you are looking for?” Scripture tells us Mary supposed he was the gardener. This supposition would have given him the benefit of the doubt; she may have also thought he was a thief or a fool.
Only a fool wouldn't know what had been going on in Jerusalem Jerusalem
She answers his question without contempt toward its foolishness, but she is not above suspecting this gardener of taking Jesus. “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.” How Mary is going to carry the dead weight of a man is irrelevant. If this gardener knows where the body is, she will retrieve it and return it to its proper resting place.
It’s the least she can do. The Lord delivered Mary from her life in the world to life with him. The gospels tell different stories about Mary and her history, but there is one thing that is certain. Jesus finds Mary and then she becomes useful to his ministry. Carrying him to his final resting place is the least she can do.
Her world is shattered. Being useful in this small way is all she can think to do. It is all she dares to believe she can do. What else is there?
Jesus then calls her by name. “Mary!” She turns and recognizing him calls out “Rabboni.” It’s amazing; she doesn’t recognize the Lord until he says her name and that makes all the difference in the world.
She has come and she has seen her Lord and her God.
She is flooded with emotion. The warmth must be glorious. Her tears of grief and fear become tears of joy and relief. The Lord reveals himself to her by saying her name. She has found him and the world is turning anew. She rushes to him, she clings to him. Then Jesus tells her this is not yet the time for he has not yet returned to the Father. Jesus tells Mary to tell the brothers, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Mary does as she is told. She comes back to the place where the disciples are staying and she tells them what she has seen and what the Lord has shared.
There’s such a difference a moment makes in our lives. Mary’s world has been turned over three times in the last three days, the twice within the last hour or so. If she is running she is skipping. If she is walking she is walking on sunshine. Life is never going to be the same. Her Lord lives. And she is trusted to take the Good News to the others. “I have seen the Lord,” and life, which had all ready been turned on its ear, is turning again.
She comes and sees; then she says “I have seen the Lord.”
Come and see. It’s a recurring theme in the Easter story. Mary comes and sees the tomb. She then comes back to the disciples and sees them. Mary, Peter, and the beloved disciple come back and see the tomb. Then comes the glorious turn, Jesus comes and sees Mary. Mary finally recognizes him and sees her Lord.
This is the ebb and flow of scripture, we come and we see. We come and we hear. We come and we receive. We come and we receive the visible signs of God’s invisible grace. Today is no exception, today is the most glorious example.
There are so many other things I want to say today, so many things, but that’s not why we came. We came to hear the Easter Story. We came to celebrate Wilda Leigh joining this part of the Body of Christ. We came to celebrate the sacraments: Belle’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
We came because Mary came. We came because Peter came. We came because the beloved disciple came. And most of all, we came because Jesus came. This is why we come and this is what we see.
If you remember, there was more to last week’s sermon. After I said “There will be a torturous death.” I followed with these words:
And there will be a glorious resurrection.
Hosanna! The fuse is lit. Let it burn.
And I’ll see you next Sunday for the big explosion.
Today we have come and we have seen the big explosion.
He is risen. He is risen indeed.
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