The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Easter Day, Year C
Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
On Easter Day, we gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb early. She’s there to mourn and grieve her beloved teacher, Jesus. Her heart is still raw, and tears are still on her face.
She is surprised to see the stone rolled away from the tomb. Something must be wrong. Did vandals break in? Did the authorities decide to steal his body to prevent his followers from gathering there to mourn? Something happened! And so she rushes off to fetch some other disciples of Jesus. Peter and the Beloved Disciple rush off. They don’t stick together – Peter falls behind. The Beloved Disciple takes a peek and sees the linen wrappings. Peter arrives and goes in. Something has happened … and they go home. They don’t understand the resurrection yet, but they confirm something has happened, and go home.
Mary Magdalene, however, is left there at the tomb, still weeping. Such care and concern from Peter and the other disciple. She’s there, weeping. Her beloved teacher is gone – she came to pray at his tomb and his body is gone.
When we grieve, we so often want something tangible to connect us to the one we love. We want a safe place for their body to rest, we want a respectful urn for their ashes even if we intend to scatter them, we want something they wore or made. We want something we can touch or hold as we begin a long goodbye of grief.
And that is what Mary Magdalene wants. She wanted to at least touch the rock that sealed his tomb – but without his body in it, is it even his tomb anymore? She remains there, crying.
Then a voice: “Why are you weeping?”
She peeks into the tomb and sees two angels. She is not startled or terrified. They do not need to tell her to “be not afraid” as so many other angels have to do in the Bible. No, Mary Magdalene is a strong, bold woman. She’s here for her Lord Jesus, and no one will deter her. She does not even wait for them to update her on the situation. Angels? Nice, but that’s not Jesus, and she’s looking for Jesus, thank you very much.
She turns to leave the tomb. She hears another voice. “Why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She supposes it is the groundskeeper who is wondering why there’s someone here so early in the morning to grieve.
The angels weren’t much help, and this human groundskeeper is probably going to be not much better. Maybe Jesus’ body was moved – wrong tomb, he should have been three tombs down the way, and maybe Mary wondered if the groundskeeper was going to grumble at being bothered. Mary Magdalene takes the situation into her own hands: “If you moved his body, tell me where you put him, and I will take care of him myself.” In her grief and with her eyes still clouded with tears, she will still get things done.
But when she hears her name, she realizes who it is. The one speaking to her is in fact the one she was searching for all along – and alive, and not dead!
She leaps to grab hold of him … but he stops her. She wants a tangible connection, but this is denied to her. Next Sunday we hear of how Thomas is invited to touch the wounds of Jesus to know how real he is, but Mary Magdalene is not similarly invited.
Mary Magdalene stands in for most of us, I’d say. We’d want a tangible connection to Jesus. We want to hear him call our name, and we want that sensory confirmation that it’s really him, and not what we want to hear. We want confirmation of this holy moment. We want to sit here with our beloved Lord Jesus. But there are times for contemplation, and there are times for action.
Mary Magdalene gets sent to carry the Good News of the resurrection to the apostles. For this, she is the Apostle to the Apostles. She is the messenger with a wondrous message to share. She is sent forth to carry this news.
Peter and the other disciples are still locked up in fear and grief, and they need to be released; Mary Magdalene carries the keys of their freedom. The world groans from fevers of hatred, contempt and oppression; Mary Magdalene carries the ointment of their healing. Humanity is plagued by lies and sin; Mary Magdalene carries in her heart the Word of truth and forgiveness.
There is a time for one-on-one contemplation with Christ. There is a time for that intense intimacy of prayer and the inward turn. And there is a time for being an apostle like Mary Magdalene, and that time is now.
We might be grieving death. We might be broken-hearted by the crisis and confusion every time we glance at the goings-on in the world. We might feel too small to make impact and too weak to do any good. But we are all called to carry this Good News of the Resurrection of Christ to one another and to the world.
We’re all called to carry and share the Good News that Jesus has conquered death – and therefore we can stand for what is merciful and righteous even if we are shaking. This Good News gives us courage and hope that even the small little things we do out of the love of God and neighbor will bear fruit.
We’re all called to carry and share the Good News that Jesus has conquered death – and therefore hate and sin have no power to bind us – we are free to live out the ways of the Kingdom of God, we are free to follow Jesus’ commands: to love God with all our heart, and mind, and soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love one another as Jesus himself has loved us. The world is longing for directions on how to live good, purposeful lives, and what better purpose than God’s love?
Each and every one of us is called to share the Good News that Jesus is risen – that God’s life triumphs over all things, and that God calls us to that divine life now, and forevermore. The world is longing for joy that enfolds and surpasses the life we live now, a joy that lasts forever.
You came today to celebrate the Resurrection, and once you leave out those doors, you are called to take the Good News you heard today with you, to be an apostle to the broken-hearted, an apostle to the downtrodden, an apostle to the bewildered and fearful. Who is Jesus sending you to, to share the Good News that brings life? Where are you being sent, to share this Good News? Carry with you this message: Alleluia, Christ is risen!