Surprise, was this the main emotion on that Sunday morning?
Mary a woman from the town of Magdala, This woman who owed her current reality to this man, this Jesus of Nazareth, the man who had freed her from seven demons, the brokenness and control that they had had over her life, she had been suddenly released, set free as Jesus cast them out of her.
At sometime in the three years of Jesus ministry she received this unshackling. She went from insanity to saint, from Satan’s Toy, to living in the joy of the Saviour of the World.
For those Bad Girls of the Bible fans, Liz Curtis Higgs describes her as going from being a Mad Girl to a Glad Girl. Those possessed by demons were usually seen as being Mad; or crazy.
Mary had been present at the crucifixion of Jesus, witness to his suffering and death, that Friday, the events had shaken her more than Fridays Earthquake had shaken the city. The death he died, what it was to witness his death, she was shaken.
That was Friday; this was Sunday.
She had returned to the tomb on the first day of the week early in the morning the crispness of night still hung in the air, the events of the last few days still raw and painful, the track beneath her feet, the early morning bird song and the first colour appearing on the blooms as the light broke through to a new reality. There in that garden of the dead.
There was the tomb, the stone had been rolled away, she realised that his body was not there. Where was this body, the lifeless broken frame she had come to attend? Then surprise; the surprise of encountering the angels one at the head and one at the feet of where Jesus lay. His body was gone!
Where had his body gone?
Mary Magdalene, a woman shrouded in so much myth. Surprisingly nothing in the gospels tells us she was a prostitute or a sinful woman (remembering all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God), but we are told that she was demon possessed before being set free by Jesus.
What is true about her is that she was a follower of Jesus, set free by Jesus, and the first of Adams race to see the risen saviour and the first to share to good news with others. It happened that day!
There is a lot to this passage of scripture, these eighteen verses.
Mary had seen the tomb was empty, Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, who is known to be John, the eye witness author of these verses. These two men were told by Mary about the tomb being empty, they ran to the tomb.
John out ran Peter, what was Peter thinking as he approached the tomb. Those brief few days ago he had denied that he knew Jesus three times; was it shame that caused him to lag behind? However he was first to enter the tomb, to see the cloth, and linen separated, folded.
Then John entered, he saw and he believed.
What he believed was not that Jesus had risen from the dead, but that Mary was telling the truth about what she had seen. You see in those days the witness of a woman was not believed to be credible, they were not able to give evidence in a court of law. Interestingly this points to the truth of the gospels, if someone wanted to spin a good yarn about someone being raised from the dead, best not to have a woman as the first witness to the event. Better still not to have one who was previously possessed. (Pointing to my head)
John having seen now believed her. The tomb was empty!
Verse nine tells us, that “they did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
Peter and John then went back to their homes. Was it the pull of breakfast, maybe eggs on toast and a glass of milk, more likely fish and unleavened bread and a glass of water maybe a slice of mutton; or was it the weariness of the weeks events… they went home!
Mary stood outside the tomb, crying…crying…crying… as she wept, she bent over, to look in the tomb, there were the angels. Why now, why one where the head of Jesus had been, why one where his feet had been?
Was this to show that Jesus was the first and the last, the beginning and the end?
This is an interesting picture; think on this; on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies the Glory of God shone between the wings of heavenly beings. Now the Glory of God had been resurrected from the dead. It occurred between these two angels…he was raised from the dead! It happened that day!
Angels, great big angels, dressed in white angels, they asked her the same question that Jesus was about to ask, “Woman why are you crying?”
Her distress showed through, why because someone had taken her Lord away.
There she stood this distressed woman, her reply “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
Then she saw him, but did not recognise him, was it a fleeting glance, ‘oh he’s the gardener’. Her eyes full of tears and angels seated where he had been. So much to take in, all so strange!
Behind her stood the gardener! He asked, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” She didn’t recognise his voice.
May be just as he carried scars on his hands and feet and side, maybe the wine vinegar had scared his throat.
What were the angels thinking as she made her reply to this man, this man she did not recognise.
Was there a knowing grin and a wink between the two of them when she said “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put him.” Or were they awed struck in his presence?
Then came his reply, that reply that answered all her questions, “Mary”.
She then turned and recognised him.
What was her response? “Rabboni”, the Aramaic word which means teacher.
She recognised him for who he was, the teacher Jesus.
His reply was “Do not hold onto me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
How is it that we take so long to recognise the saviour? Are we distracted by the events of life, are we shaken by our pasts, are our eyes clouded, full of tears, what barriers do we have to our seeing?
What evidence was there that day; Mary had a personal encounter with the living saviour.
In life there are three proofs for God:
• His creation
• His word
• And personal experience of him
While the Peter and John went home for breakie, Mary waited, sometimes it pays to wait. In her distress she waited and she grieved.
“Thinking he was the gardener”, Mary thought JESUS was the gardener!
‘Thinking’ how often in our thinking do we limit God, we have heard this or that about him, we think this or that of him. Experience is the key!
That day it happened!
Mary recognised him and as she did she turned fully towards him and cried out, “teacher.” He was her teacher, she had learnt so much from him, all his followers had learned so much.
Where do you meet Jesus, in his word, in studying his word? This is the word of life, this is gospel, and this is the truth that sets people free. We also meet him through his Spirit! The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Christ, also we see him in his creation.
I know people who sit and read book after book who have yet to read this book, who don’t run to God, but run in the other direction. Not recognising who Jesus is, never experiencing the freedom of the Living God in their lives. Never experiencing the friendship, encouragement, comfort and help of the Spirit of Christ.
Jesus was those things to his disciples and Mary was to take news to his disciples that day.
What did Jesus say to Mary about his brothers? “…tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Through his death and resurrection we have surety that ‘Jesus’ Heavenly Father is now our Father. Before the resurrection Jesus had always spoken of His Father, and now for the first time / and your Father.
The disciples were now through His death and resurrection, His family; all who believe have the privilege of knowing God as Father. It all happened that day!
That day he rose from the dead and we can rise with Him, that day we were given the privilege of family; the ability to call His God our God, His Father our Father.
You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin nor should you. (Some of you may have heard this story.)
But during his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. As Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today.
There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insults, argument, and proof against it. An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men’s faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!"
En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder:
"HE IS RISEN INDEED!" (http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/heisrisen.htm#.VR73evyUd6w, sited 04/04/2014)
Mary’s encounter with the risen Christ, the encounter of that morning has been made real to many, many people, just like that crowd in 1917.
Her words “I have seen the Lord” ring through history, repeated in ways such as “I have encountered Jesus, he’s entered my life,” or “The Spirit of Christ now lives in me!”, and “I’m set free from my past, my sins are forgiven because of Jesus”
However it’s worded those who encounter the Risen Lord are never the same.
Where do you stand? Has he called your name, did you hear him, turning to respond to his voice? Do you see him clearly for who he is The Saviour of the World.
Are you still facing away, not knowing the life that his death brought.
Maybe your eyes are clouded with tears, maybe with doubt.
Is something causing you to lag in your approaching the Christ.
He lives “Christ is risen.” It happened that day.
This is a day of celebration, of new life. Those who live in the joy of the knowledge of the resurrection celebrate by living their lives for him.
Will today be the day you encounter the Risen Saviour.
Benediction:
He is Risen,
He is Risen Indeed (this should be the reply)
He is Risen
He is Risen Indeed
walk in the presence of the Risen Lord,
Embrace his life as your own,
Rejoice in him as he rejoices in you! Amen.
