Resurrection of Our Lord

April 21, 2019

“While it was still dark…”

John 20:1-18

While it was still dark…”the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it…the true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world…” [John 1]

Jesus murdered on a cross now lay dead in the tomb.  The passion and crucifixion of Jesus was a series of horrifying and devastating experiences for all his followers especially the 12 and the women who supported him. 

Now what?  The men went into hiding.  The women came to the tomb.  John records Mary Magdalene as the first to arrive at the tomb:

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”  [John 20]

Upon Mary Magdalene’s urging Peter and ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ run to the tomb.  Frist to go in is that unnamed disciple whom Jesus loved – he sees the linen wrappings and believes.  Peter enters sees and is shocked and both return home leaving Mary at the tomb alone.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 

14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.  [John 20]

Who is Mary Magdalene and what is going on in John’s account of the resurrection?

Mary Magdalene is mentioned by name 14 times in the Gospels more than most of the Apostles.  She is not a prostitute as anecdotal tradition claims.  Jesus healed her of 7 demons.  She was so grateful she continued to follow him throughout his ministry to the cross and open tomb.

The town of Magdala was known for the dye industry and it is reasonable to assume she was a person of means.  She is among the women who not only followed Jesus but supported his ministry financially.

Mary went with her Lord into the shadows.  She was among those who followed Jesus on His last sad journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. And as they followed, they still “ministered unto Him.”

Mary was present with the other women at the mock trial of Jesus. Some of His intimate friends had deserted Him, but Mary and her band did not forsake Him. The poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, reminds us—

Not she with traitorous kiss her Master stung,

Not she denied Him with unfaithful tongue;

She, when Apostles fled, could dangers brave,

Last at the Cross, and earliest at the grave.

She came out of the darkness of demon possession into the light of compassion:

Glorious Day – The song at the beginning of the service is indeed a song that Mary Magdalene could have sung to Jesus: [Written by Kritian Stanfill]

I was buried beneath my shame
Who could carry that kind of weight
It was my tomb
Till I met You

I was breathing but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb
Till I met You

You called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day

Now Your mercy has saved my soul
Now Your freedom is all I know
The old made new
Jesus, when I met you

Mary’s story is our story.  We often find ourselves in darkness buried beneath some shame or weight.  We may at times feel empty and alone caught in the web of failures. 

Darkness comes in all sorts of forms.  There are debts we can never repay.  There are words we can never unsay.  We’ve all gotten lost along the way. There has been and will be darkness in my life and in yours – losses and difficulties beyond our control.

But there is healing in the sound of one’s voice:  “Mary!”

When Mary heard her name from Jesus there was a flashback – a flashback to that healing moment when Christ cast out the darkness of her demons.

There is healing in the sound of a voice.  There is God’s voice that penetrates any darkness in our lives. 

v  That voice scattered the darkness at the beginning of creation:  “Let there be light!” and the evening and the morning were the first day. 

v  That voice pronounced freedom to a band of slaves in Egypt and took them to the Promised Land. 

v  That voice called prophets out of the darkness of exile and despair and called a people back home. 

v  That Word – that voice became flesh in Jesus and called people into God’s loving rule.

Mary Magdalene heard the resurrected voice of Jesus and as a first witness to the risen Christ proclaimed the good news. 

There is healing in the sound of one’s voice. Darkness does not have the last word.  God’s voice pierces through the darkness of death and calls you by name.

Sainted Lutheran pastor and poet Gerhard Frost wrote down these thoughts:

Grounds for Hope

If I am asked
what are my grounds for hope,
this is my answer: 

Light is lord over darkness,
truth is lord over falsehood,
life is lord over death.

Of all the facts I daily live with,
there’s none more comforting
than this: If I have two rooms,
one dark, the other light,
and I open the door between them,
the dark room becomes lighter
without the light one
becoming darker. I know
this no headline,
but it’s a marvelous footnote;
and God comforts me in that.

[Source: Seasons of Life, page 121]

The resurrected Christ lives here and now.  Notice Jesus told Mary Magdalene not to touch him.  He was going to the Father.  Sounds strange, but in leaving her and his follower he became even closer to Mary.  Because Christ would come to abide in her and the disciples and all the faithful through the Spirit.

The Spirit of the risen Christ is in you.  You are a person of light.  There is healing in the sound of your voice.  Christ is alive in each one of us. 

The way through any darkness in our lives is hand in hand in the community of faith.  Look around you – Christ is risen in you and me.  We take each other’s hands when confronted by darkness and we go through it together as voice and light of Christ.

GPS is such a community.  I noticed this especially with Prayer Sunday – when there were stations for different ways of expressing or asking for prayer.  There was healing taking place and lives were being touched.

The prayer team sends out requests each week – this, too, is yet another way for us to be Christ to each other.

Author and speaker Marianne Williamson writes this in her book:  A Return to Love:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene, heard the voice of the risen Christ call her by name.  You, too, have been called by name.  The risen Christ lives within you. You are a child of God.  We are made to manifest the glory of God within us. 

You called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day.

Amen

kennstorck@gmail.com