A Sermon for Easter Sunday
April 8, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry
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. 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.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 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. 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 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.’” 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. (New Revised Standard Version)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
In the midst of the early morning darkness, Mary Magdalene makes her way to Jesus’ tomb. She is devastated by his death. She would rather the horrific event of his crucifixion had never happened. Now, all she has are the memories of him and this grave to tend.
And then, a turn of events occurs. The resurrected Jesus appears to her in one of the most devastatingly moving moments of the bible. Her first instinct is joy that he has returned to life. Now things can be like they used to again. His whole death and burial can fade into her memory like nothing more than a bad dream. His body has not been taken to some unknown location, he is here with her. She grabs a hold of him, overjoyed that her life makes sense again. Mary doesn’t even stop to ask questions about how he came back to life or what it all meant, she just clings to him.
But Jesus gently tells her, “Do not hold onto me, for I have not yet ascended.” Do not hold on to me? What does this mean? Jesus returns to her but now she can’t hold onto him. Why is he going on another journey? Hasn’t he had enough journey already?
Jesus is trying to tell his befuddled disciple that things aren’t like before. He has not come back to just pick up where they left off. Now that he has passed from life to death and back to life again, something amazing has happened and things can never be as they were before. Mary wants a nostalgic return to the past, but Jesus wants to lead her into the future.
We are prone to the same attitude about Easter as Mary demonstrated on the first Easter. We love to think about the Easter Sundays of the past. We gather each Spring for Easter worship, but do we gather to celebrate the resurrection or simply to relish in the nostalgia of this holiday—remembering our childhood traditions of Easter: the Easter egg hunts, the new outfits, the chocolate bunnies, the Easter brunch, the family gatherings? We cling to the tradition of Easter rather than the message of Easter. In the end, however, this attitude reduces Easter to nothing more than a Kodak moment, like the resurrected Jesus is just another pleasant picture in the family photo album. This clinging to the past lops off the power of Easter. B.B. Taylor once wrote: “You can’t nail Jesus down. We tried once but he got loose.” Jesus did not spring from the tomb just so we could eat chocolate bunnies!
But we, like Mary, are unsure about the uncertainty of the future Jesus talks about. We’re not sure what he means about going to the Father. We like to cling to the comfort of what we know, rather than the uncertainty of a new life in Christ. We must accept that Jesus is not dead and behind us but he is alive and ahead of us. This is the good of the good news—we no longer have to remain as we are! But because Jesus lives and is going to the Father, we have a chance at finally becoming the people we have been created to be.
If we limit our understanding of Jesus and reduce him to a series of old memories, then we limit his power in our lives. If he can’t be for us the risen Christ, then we cannot benefit from his resurrection. Easter is a time to grow, blossom, advance—to be Easter people.
When I was a child, playing on the banks of the Mississippi, my sister and I used to love dragonfly season. For a couple of days each summer, ugly prehistoric looking bugs clumsily trudge out of the river. They perch on a rock or a wall and then their backs begin the bulge like some monster in a science fiction movie. And then, suddenly, a big-eyed dragonfly face pops out. In a little bit, its wings unfurl and it pulls itself the rest of the way out of the old shell and flies away. Big, beautiful, dramatic dragon flies come out of goofy looking bugs! You can hardly believe it unless you see it for yourself. And the shell they leave behind looks just like their old selves, except that it is hollow and can be crumbled in your fingers.
As I think about being an Easter person, I am reminded of the metamorphosis of the dragonfly. While, we long to cling to the old shells of our lives, of the people we used to be, Christ compels us to be the transformed dragonflies. He wants us to be free and joyful and filled with new life.
To be Easter people means that our lives can no longer be business as usual. We must throw our lives into the hands of our resurrected Savior. We must have the courage of Mary who followed her Lord’s command to go and tell the others, the share the good news that Jesus is alive and will always be alive. Jesus is not dead and behind us, he is alive and ahead of us—freeing us to be all that we were created to be. He is leading us into an unknown, but marvelous future. If we must cling, let us cling not to things that are fleeting but to the power of the resurrection and our own new lives!
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© Laura E. Gentry 2007
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