Rev. Thomas E. Myers

March 23, 2008

COLOSSIANS 3:1-4

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your a life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

John 20:1-18

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.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

    ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look a 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.

“The Christ Within”

The resurrection is what we celebrate today.  We profess that Jesus rose in some mysterious manner.  We also celebrate the body of Christ, for we believe that Jesus raised us from the darkness and despair about life.  We rejoice in the hope that the celebration of the resurrection holds for us today.  This is indeed a day where a spirit of hope and joy abounds.

Today, the question that begs to be answered, the question that many learned and good people ponder as it rests before us today is… do you believe? 

Faith in the resurrection of Jesus comes to some, not through reasoned consideration of the evidence or by some tangible proof.  Not through skilled instruction, or through knowing all of the biblical stories, but rather through our experience with the risen Christ.  Sometimes that experience is radical and life shaking, and other times it is an invigorating warming of our heart, the assurance that Jesus is with us, the Christ within.

Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Apostle Paul did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus until he had his Damascus Road experience.  His entire life changed following that brief encounter.  It was a radical life transforming experience.  For the rest of his life his work was devoted to helping the followers of the Way.  He traveled many miles and spent years teaching Christians about the resurrection.  Without Paul’s encounter with the resurrected Christ, the early church would have struggled with the concept of the resurrection and its meaning for faith.

We can find the assurance of faith in less radical ways as well.  Like when the Spirit of Christ rests upon us when we receive the sacraments, in a life changing way, or when we experience the assurance of God’s healing and transforming love through other spiritually rich experiences.  

But these stories in John’s Gospel are resurrection stories that are vivid and rich, and life transforming.

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb twice in John’s Gospel.  First, when she saw that the stone had been rolled away, and then a second time when she went to the tomb with the disciples after she informed them that the tomb was empty.  The disciples went into the tomb first and saw the wrappings and the cloth that had been over Jesus’ face.  They saw and believed what Marry had told them, the tomb was indeed empty, the stone had been rolled away.  It wasn’t until later in John’s Gospel after they had locked themselves into a home for fear that they might be arrested, and Jesus mysteriously appeared in their room that they would believe that Jesus was resurrected.

I too would suggest that faith is not a matter of logic, or intellect.  It’s not a matter of hearing the right story, or going through a guilt trip so that you can discover relief.  Rather, the foundation of our faith begins with our experience with the Spirit of Christ, in radical or in heart warming fashion.  And from that moment on, we too profess the resurrection.

In John’s Gospel, Mary is the first to experience the resurrected Christ.  She recognizes him at the tomb.  It’s Mary who first believes that Jesus is resurrected, not just taken, or vanished. 

In Matthew’s Gospel, this is reported in a bit of a different way.  Mary Magdalene and the “other” Mary left the tomb, running to tell the disciples what the Angel had said to them, when suddenly they met Jesus.  It was important for Matthew that Jesus would also encounter them.  Why?

The message is much like what the Angel had requested of them.  Why is it important for them to have this resurrection experience?  So that they would believe, not just that the tomb was empty, but that Jesus had risen from the dead.  This encounter shaped their faith.  It gave Mary Magdalene, and the “other” Mary, assurance and conviction.

Assurance and conviction are great to have when things get difficult.  Assurance and conviction are great to have when you lose your job because you did what was right, rather than what would make the most profit.  Assurance and conviction help when you are diagnosed with a fatal disease.  Assurance and conviction are essential when you are raising children.  It is the assurance and conviction that you were given when you experienced the Holy Spirit.  Some people call it their religious experience.  Hold onto it, remember it, and give God thanks for your experience of Christ’s Spirit.  Remember it when all else fails.  Remember it.

In John’s Gospel the experiences of the resurrected Christ are many.

Mary’s encounter, the disciples in the locked house, Thomas’ encounter with the other disciples.  These resurrection stories were about faith development.  They gave the Christian community stability, assurance, support, and trust in all that Jesus had taught them about God’s Realm.  These experiences gave the disciples a grounding, and a central core to their very being.  All that Jesus taught them, and their very faith was grounded through their experience with the resurrected Christ.  Through it there were no hanging questions for them about who he was.  Their very center of their being had changed.

Later in our Easter journey we will discover that there is more to discipleship than just faith development.  During Jesus third appearance with the disciples, along the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus asks Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”  “Feed my lambs.”  “Blessed are those who have not seen,” says Jesus, which means all of us here, “and yet have come to believe.”  Hold on to that which gives you assurance.

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