John 19:11-18
From the outside looking in
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb far earlier than usual. Obviously, she is still distraught over the previous days’ events. No matter what Jesus had said or did before crucifixion Friday, the fact remained that Jesus was dead. All the belief in his Lordship, all the conversation surrounding his divine origin, even the myriad miraculous events countless people experienced now amounted to a heap of burnt ash. Jesus was dead.
Hardly having any sleep, Mary Magdelne determined to get up and complete what had not been adequately done. She and, according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, a few other women headed out to finish preparing his body. As John’s gospel describes, MM travels to the cemetery. Once there, she makes her way to Joseph of Arimethea’s tomb, the borrowed place where Jesus had been laid. To her surprise the tomb is open, in her mind the likely the result of some type of vandalism. In her surprise, anger, and panic she ran to Peter’s home. John and Peter, two of Jesus’ inner circle, were hold up there in fear of being arrested and killed as Jesus was. She tells her story.
Peter and John beat a hasty path to the tomb where they find it as Mary had described. No one in sight; no guards posted; the stone closure rolled away. The bright glare of early sunlight clearly showed the tomb was empty. Yet both men, seeing the same thing, have different experiences. Peter saw Jesus’ burial cloths discarded, in a tangle on the slab; Jesus’ body was nowhere in sight. Peter was distressed, confused; his heart raced. John, who followed Peter into the tomb, had a different experience though looking at the same sight. He saw Jesus’ burial cloths discarded, in a tangle, on the slab but noticed that the napkin used to cover Jesus’ face and head had been neatly folded and laid to the side all by itself. John saw it for what it was: the folded napkin was a coded message. No one in a rush to steal a body would take the time to neatly fold anything! They would simply grab the body and run. No, this meant that someone had taken the time to fold it and lay it by itself as a message. John knew is Savior. Jesus is a man of great vision and he was a man of details. Jesus never did anything by accident; and this folded napkin was no accident. It was as clear a message as if Jesus had spoken it audibly: “I’m back!” John saw it and believed. No, Jesus wasn’t in the tomb but Jesus is here…somewhere. He’s not dead! Though he believed John kept these initials thoughts to himself. So he and Peter left. Peter full of questions and confusion; John having questions but still he believed!
MM did not go into the tomb with the men. She stayed outside feeling too helpless to do anything. Now, she could not even finalize her grieving by anointing Jesus’ body. There would be no closure for her this day, only constant ache and pain. Jesus had been body-napped in the middle of the night. Who would do such a thing? Who knew when or if they’d ever find his body? That was the last nail in the proverbial coffin: The Romans or the Pharisees had won. After Peter and John departed, MM looked in. What did she expect to see - Jesus’ burial clothes; the cold, stone slab; the damp dirt floor? As she steadied her gaze, two men were sitting there; one sitting at the foot of the stone slab, the other at its head. They asked her, “Why are you weeping?” They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” So broken by her grief she failed to realize that these two men weren’t there as Peter and John looked in.
In her aggravation, she turned away to begin her personal search. Peter and John had failed to do what she felt they should have. She would scour the cemetery looking for a fresh grave or some sign of foul play. Seeing a man she thought the gardener she said, “Sir, if you’ve moved his body please tell me, and I will take him away.” At that moment Jesus called her name, M, and the sound of his voice melted away her grief. Teacher, is it you?!
From the outside, from MM perspective also Peter’s, everything had been lost, even Jesus’ body. Two out of three disciples were totally overcome by the appearance of events. Only John saw the coded message and counted that as God’s mysterious movement in human events. Only John believed and held onto his belief despite the situation. MM, lost in her grief, actually saw two messengers from God – and heard them speak! – but was so inured by suffering that she didn’t get it when they said, “Who are you looking for? He is not here! But she heard and saw what she wanted to hear. It was only when Jesus spoke her name that she came to herself and realized she had been outside her faith, looking in…
It’s true: the premise of Christian belief is as outlandish as they come. In the face of everyday, common human experience; in the face of historic reality Jesus returns from the dead… Not counting how common resurrection sounds to us today, this narrative isn’t some creatively crafted Hollywood script. This isn’t some storyline from the furtive mind of some sci-fi or mystery writer. At the heart of Christianity is the claim that Jesus, God incarnate, was born, lived, gave his life as an act of sacrifice; died, and now lives! This is best-seller material! What is it about this story that has turned skeptics and cynics alike into believers for more than 2000 years? What is it about Jesus that so electrifies and polarizes at the same time?
From the outside looking in, many have and do question God on many grounds: 1) If God is a good God why would God allow this? 2) If God is a good God why is there suffering? 3) If God is almighty why did God allow this awful thing to happen? 4) If God is truly loving why would God send people to hell? 5) If God’s Spirit is truly in his church, why are so many church people messed up? 6) If God is love why is there so much hate? Why doesn’t God just do something about all the evil in the world? 7) If God loves the world, why did he let Jesus die? Why doesn’t God just do something?
From the outside, there are so many questions. But Resurrection Sunday is a reminder about faith in God. 1) God is good and God loves you enough not to respect your decisions. If you say, “Stay out, God, he is not so OCD as to stalk you…” From the outside faith in God looks suspicious – depend on God?! God may seem capricious. From the outside sometimes evens believers walk away wondering and shaking their heads like Peter as he left the tomb. From the outside, some only see God’s absence; some only see their pain sometimes inflicting it on others even as they search for spiritual closure and meaning like MM. The Q is: as a B It is possible to live your faith from the outside looking in!
Faith isn’t about certainty. Faith is about belief in God even as life is uncertain! Otherwise we can miss the messages that God does leave us…
1) Some of us are like John, we see God’s movement as soon as we look in….
2) Some of us are like MM looking into the tomb, God sends us assurance and we still miss the message!
- Angels are nothing more than messengers: Whoever tells you the word is your messenger
- Don’t go looking for supernatural
3) Some are like MM when Jesus confronts her, it takes divine intervention to finally get our attention…
All of us have been outsiders looking in at some point.
Today is about being an insider… From the outside, the tomb is empty and Jesus’ body was stolen. From the inside, thank God the tomb is empty because Jesus has Risen! From the outside the world is full of suffering and pain. From the inside, Jesus has touched me, and I’ve become a wounded healer! I can feel your pain, and through Christ, I can do something to ease the world’s pain!!!
From the outside looking in Christians seem a deluded people worshipping a dead savior. From the inside, Jesus has left the sign: like his burial napkin, he has this thing wrapped up, folded neatly, and under control. It may look like chaos; but in the chaos, like in the chaos on Calvary, Jesus is working it out…the kingdoms of this world is become, the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ!!!
