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Notices - Sermons
Easter Day 2010
John 20 verses 1-18
In all our lives there are moments that are etched on our memories. We can recall where we were when certain historical events happened. Some of you are old enough to remember the assassination of John F Kennedy. For this generation it may well be 9/11 as a defining moment. Then there are those personally defining or decisive moments. Your wedding, the birth of your children, when you passed that important exam or got your first job. We all have such moments in our lives. Moments which we remember - some good and some painful. I want this Easter morning to take you to such a decisive and defining moment in the life of a woman - Mary Magdalene.
If you look at verse 1 of John 20 you read that it was the first day of the week, Sunday, early in the morning while it was still dark. Once again John is using the contrast of dark and light, as he has done throughout his gospel. Here is a woman coming under the cover of darkness to the tomb of Christ. A tomb was a place of darkness and death and yet the contrast will be that this tomb is empty and is full of light and life. The very place depicted in darkness will be the place of light for the world evermore.
Who is this woman Mary Magdalene? We read of her 11 times in the NT gospels. She was a woman who knew all about spiritual darkness and the dark side of life. She was a prostitute who was demon possessed. When she met Jesus her life was dramatically and decisively changed. We read in Luke 8 how Christ exorcised 7 demons from her life. Her meeting with Christ was a defining and decisive moment in her life. She came from Magdala, an important Galilean trading centre. From the moment she met Christ and her life was changed she followed Jesus, often ministering to Him and his disciples. Traditionally she is thought of as the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus with her tears and perfume, in the house of Simon the Pharisee. She was also at the cross a few days earlier when Christ was crucified. In keeping with Jewish tradition she comes to the tomb of Jesus to mourn his death and to anoint the body one last time. Traditionally Jews did this for up to three days after a death as they believed that the soul remained in the body for up to three days after death. So Mary, and the other women, come to do this last piece of homage to Christ.
Verse 2 - John tells us that when they reach the tomb they see that the stone has been rolled away. Moving the stone into place was a relatively easy task but removing it from the entrance to a tomb was almost impossible and certainly beyond the capabilities of most ordinary people. Mary Magdalene runs to get Simon Peter and John. The Greek text implies that the two disciples were not together and that she has to go on two journeys to find these two disciples. The disciples had been scattered by the crucifixion and of fear of arrest. She calls Simon because he is deemed the leader of the disciples and John, no doubt, because of him being deemed the 'beloved disciple.' John records for us that Mary tells them 'they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they laid him.'
Mary knew the tomb was empty but could conceive of no other explanation other than the body had been moved and laid to rest somewhere else. What other explanation could there be for an empty tomb?
Verses 3-4 the two disciples run to the tomb to see for themselves. John outruns Peter and reaches the tomb first. In verse 5 we are told that John looks into the tomb and sees the empty grave clothes where the body of Christ once laid. There is no explanation given as to why John did not enter the tomb. It may have been out of fear or maybe, being Passover, he did not wish to be defiled by entering a tomb and so be barred from the Temple?
Simon Peter is ever impulsive and when he arrives he enters the tomb - verses 6-7. John tells us that Peter also sees the empty grave clothes and he adds a little more detail that the cloth which had covered the head of Christ is folded separately from the rest of the garments. I want to linger here for a moment. Do you remember the story of the raising of Lazarus from the grave? When Lazarus came out of the grave he was still wearing his grave clothes, even though he had been raised to life. He needed other people to help him remove the grave clothes from his body. When Christ rose from the dead He left the grave clothes behind. He needed them no more because He was no longer subject to death. Lazarus could not leave his behind because he was still subject to death. Lazarus needed Christ to bring him back from the dead and he needed others to remove the grave clothes - Christ needed no help from others. Death was defeated and the grave clothes would be needed no more. Lazarus would need his grave clothes one day but Christ would never need them again because he had defeated death.
Also do you notice that John tells us the grave clothes were folded and left in the tomb. There had been no violent snatching away of the body by thieves. It is not for us to speculate how Christ rose from the dead. The simple fact is stated in the gospels that He rose from the dead.
Verse 8 - John then tells us that the beloved disciples also enters the tomb and seeing the grave clothes believed but verse 9 tells us that this is not a fully realised belief in the resurrection because they had not understood the Scriptures (Isaiah 53.9-12 an Ps.16.10), which had spoken of the Messiah rising from the dead. Then in verse 10 we have a remarkable statement - these two disciples went back to their homes. Luke tells us in 24.12 that Peter went away wondering what had happened to Jesus. I find that amazing. They went back to their homes, after all that they had seen they return to the familiar, the safe and the secure. How many people today do the same? How many people when presented with the gospel just go back to the familiar, to the safe and to what brings them earthly security?
Well let us continue in our story with Mary Magdalene - verse 11 - she stands at the entrance to the tomb weeping. In fact the words there speak of a deep grief that comes from the very heart of your soul. Mary, overwhelmed with grief, lets the tears flow and as she does she leans forward and looks into the tomb once more. You know I am really struck by Mary here. She could have left with the other two disciples and gone back to her home but she doesn't - she remains at the spot where she last had seen her Lord. I am struck by how often in Scripture I read about people going back to the last place they met with the Lord. I think it is a good thing to remember that we should go back to the spot we last met the Lord and wait, even weep, there.
Verse 12 - as she looks into the tomb through tear filled eyes she sees two angels sitting where the body of Christ had lain. Friends, you what is amazing. From the moment of Christ's birth we only hear of angels after the temptation and now at the resurrection. You see in the Scriptures the angels represent God's presence but when Christ came, being God, angels were not required as God had made His dwelling amongst men. The angels speak to Mary (verse 13) and ask her 'why are you weeping?' From the perspective of heaven tears at an empty tomb makes no sense at all. Tears of grief on this Easter morn make no sense o all heaven. Mary's concern is shown in her answer - she is still thinking in earthly terms of a body that has been taken away and not of a resurrected Lord. Please note that even in death God is still her Lord. For Mary that has not changed but she cannot, as yet, conceive of a risen Lord.
Verses 14-15 - Mary is aware of another presence behind her and turning believes she is speaking to the gardener. How ironic. The first Adam was a gardener, this second Adam (Christ) is thought to be the gardener. Mary fails to recognise Christ - she wasn't expecting Him to be alive, as verse 13 shows us. Jesus asks her why she is weeping. What has caused such grief in your life that you weep at this tomb? Who is it that you are looking for amongst the dead? These are very simple and yet profound questions to ask at tomb. Think about it for a moment - is it not obvious why someone is crying at a tomb? Grief at the loss of a loved one! The second question is a much deeper question: Who are you looking for? I think that is a really important question for each of us to answer this morning. Who are you looking for this morning? When you have come here to worship - who are you looking for? As you stand here this morning before the empty tomb - who are you looking for?
Mary shows that she is still thinking in material, earthly terms - believing this gardener has removed the body she asks where he has taken Christ and she offers to go and bring the body back. She is willing to go and touch the dead, to be defiled this Passover time, in order to bring the body of her Lord back. Here is devotion to her Lord. She has not left the tomb and she is willing to go to wherever and do whatever it takes to bring the body back to its burial site.
Verse 16 now comes the decisive and defining moment of Mary's life. Jesus speaks her name: 'Mary...' that is all it takes for her eyes to be open. Let me read a verse to you from John 10 verse 3. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, calls His sheep by name - they hear His voice, they recognise His voice and they follow His voice. It took only her name to be spoken by Jesus and she recognises the voice of her Lord. Do you notice what John tells us - she turns to Him and calls 'Rabboni.' She had obviously turned away from Him but when He spoke her name she turns back to Him because she hears her name, recognises the voice which calls deep into her soul above the grief and reaches through the tears of her life at this moment and calls her to turn to Him again. Here is the voice that stilled the madness of her soul tormented by demons. Here is the voice that quietened her heart and gave her dignity. Here is the voice that did not rebuke but blessed her when she let tears stream down her cheeks onto His feet and when she broke the expensive jar of perfume over Him. She knew that voice. Here in the place of death the voice of life has spoken and called her by name. Mary... the light of the world has called her name - all around her is the darkness of the early morning, the darkness of death, the darkness of the tomb and the darkness of her grief - but light has flooded into this darkness and has overcome the darkness of death, of the grave and of grief and He has called her by name. Christ calls her by name and He still calls people by name. He still calls people out of the depths of darkness into His glorious resurrection life.
This morning it matters not what the darkness is that surrounds you He is here and He is calling you, yes you, by name. Mary turned back to Him - she turned out of the darkness to the Light of the World. She turned away from the empty tomb to the risen Lord Jesus. She turned away from the angels, from the empty grave clothes and from the place of burial to the One who had risen from the dead. He only had to speak her name and she turned around and called out to Him. John tells us that she clung to Him and Christ had to tell her to let Him go - verse 17. Why? I think the simple answer is that from now on He would be known not by touch but by faith. He then instructs her to go and tell the disciples that Christ is risen from the dead - verse 19.
Application
I don't know how many years you have come to a church service on Easter Day. I don't know if you give much thought to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As I close this morning I want you to think for a few moments about Mary Magdalene and how we all are so like her this morning.
For some of us we come this morning because we know from what Christ has freed us. We can look back to a moment in time when we heard the voice of Christ drive out the demons of our lives, maybe even literal demons. We can look back, with thankfulness, to the day He took away our sin and gave us the gift of eternal life. So for some of us we come this morning and it is a real celebration of the victory of the Christ over sin and death that we know as a living reality in our lives today. We have come to celebrate. We have come to worship Him who is risen from the dead - Amen!
There is another group here this morning. There are some of you here this morning and you have come because you wonder 'Where is Christ?' You came this morning, maybe out of a sense of duty, because you knew this is where you last met with Christ. This morning you desperately want an answer to that question: Where is Jesus? You have wandered far and wide from the path of Christ and He in His providential mercy has brought you this morning to an empty tomb and this morning He would have you turn again to Him and believe afresh in Him. This morning as we have been singing, as we have heard the Word of God read, and in His mercy as I have spoken from His Word - you have heard Him call you by name this morning. This morning you know that you are still in the darkness of your sin and that you have never come to Christ - this morning Christ is calling you by name to turn from the darkness to His glorious resurrection light.
I want to say something to those of you who would claim to have been born again but your life has been far from holy and righteous - Christ is calling you by name this morning to repent and to come back.
I am going to do something this morning that I have never done before in Holy Trinity but to be honest with you the time for playing at Christianity is long past in this church. The time for easy laissez faire Christianity is past. I want us all to bow our heads and close our eyes. This is not about anyone else but yourself and Christ this morning.
I am going to ask those of you who know and love Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour to stand up. He died on a cross for you on a public hill so it is not a big thing to stand in His presence this morning. So if you know Christ as your Lord and Saviour and you are willing to say I am yours and I will serve you - stand up. This is your public declaration that things are not going to be the same in Holy Trinity because things are not going to be the same in your life from this day forward. All to Jesus I surrender - you have sung and now He wants to know you mean it.
This morning if you want to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. This morning if you want to turn to Him as He has called your name - just raise your hand. I know it is a difficult thing to do and every part of you heart and head is telling you to not move but Christ has called you by name this morning and you know He has called you by name - so raise your hand. Pray a prayer of commitment.
Amen.
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