Darkness to Life

An Easter Sermon Based upon John 20:1-18

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!

In the name of the risen Jesus; amen.

“While it was still dark…”

It was incredibly early in the morning, so early that it was still dark. One might even refer to the time that Mary Magdalene made her way to the tomb as night. My guess is she couldn’t sleep. The time in between the crucifixion and when it was appropriate to make her way to the tomb was excruciatingly long. He had died on a Friday and placed in a tomb before sundown began the Sabbath.

It was the way they counted time; from sundown to sundown and the Sabbath would have ended Saturday evening. For more than 24 hours, Mary waited to go to the place she had seen them lay the life-less body of this man whom she loved.

There were rules about the Sabbath and there were rules about death and the rules said that one needed to wait until after the Sabbath to tend to the dead. And it was Mary’s task, the task of a woman to anoint the dead, to make the burial proper, to ensure that the body and the spirit of the person were cared for.

She had tried to wait until the light came up, until sunshine would have lit her path, but the Gospel of John tells us that she couldn’t wait… “that while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”

Her first thought was that someone had taken him and so she ran to find Peter and John to tell them. And they went, and they saw that what she said was true, but they didn’t offer her any comfort. After looking in the tomb, they went back home leaving her alone and weeping.

I can only imagine the thoughts that went through her head.

Did she curse herself for not doing more, for not coming sooner to make certain that Jesus was properly buried, to guard his grave to ensure that no one would take him away?

She had blown it, the one thing left that she could do for Jesus was to pour perfume on his corpse and say good-bye… and now her chance was gone.

At that moment the end of the story had come for her. She had watched him die and couldn’t do a thing about it and then she had waited too long to come to the tomb. She must have been overwhelmed by grief and anger; she must have forced herself to look into the hole where he was supposed to be so that when she saw the angels sitting there she didn’t recognize them for what they were.

And then that question: “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Obviously, they didn’t understand, so she explained it to them and then she explained it to the gardener: “They have taken him from me. If you know where he is, tell me and I will take him.”

Did the sun come up at just that moment? Maybe it was already daylight, but for Mary the response she was given created a brand new day.

And it wasn’t just for Mary… that next moment, the one after she begs for Jesus to be returned to her, is the moment when we are offered a brand new day.

She hears her name spoken and spoken by a familiar voice. It is the voice of the one who rid her of her demons. It is the voice of the one who loved her and cared for her. It is the voice of the one who asked her to follow him. It is the voice of the one who she had heard cry out two days before on the cross: “It is finished.”

It was the voice of her teacher and friend; it was the voice of Jesus.

The moment of Easter occurred for Mary when Jesus spoke her name.

It’s a funny thing really… we celebrate Christ’s resurrection on Sunday, but the resurrection most likely occurred on a Saturday. Jesus was gone from the tomb before Sunday morning happened, while it was still dark, still night-time, the way we figure time and the way John tells it.

So I would suggest that this is a day to celebrate more than Jesus rising from the tomb. Today isn’t just the day that we remember Jesus’ resurrection. It is the day when the one who was supposed to be dead calls our name: Easter is our brand new day. Easter is our resurrection day.

This is the day that the one who was supposed to be dead and buried stands in front of us and speaks our name in a familiar voice. The voice of the one who rids us of our sin. The voice of the one who loves us and cares for us. The voice of the one who asks us to follow him. The voice of the one who suffered and died for us on Good Friday.

The voice of our teacher and friend; the voice of Jesus!

Speaking our name!

That is our resurrection story. But the story doesn’t end there. It doesn’t end for Mary and it doesn’t end for us. The voice that spoke Mary’s name, that speaks our names, gives us a voice to use this brand new day.

It is a voice to shout Hallelujah! It is a voice to shout: Because he lives we live! It is a voice to proclaim: We have seen the Lord!
This isn’t a story meant to stay in the dark. Just as we aren’t meant to live in darkness or grief or sorrow, this is a story that is meant to be shared and brought to the light of a brand new day.

We are meant to tell our resurrection story, to share it like Mary Magdalene went and shared it with the disciples.

What happened that Easter day over 2,000 years ago will always be the most important moment in our story. The moment Jesus called Mary’s name is the moment that took us from weeping to rejoicing.

It changed everything for us.

Listen, God is calling your name now; proclaiming your resurrection and giving you a voice.

Use it to tell the story:

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen!