Lou Holtz, the famous coach of Notre Dame football fame, said, “life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond.” A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as though just as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."
Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did, and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had transformed the water.
Life is 10% what happens to us, 90% how we respond to it. Do our trials soften us toward God, harden us toward God or transform us for God?
I want to take us back to the tomb on that Sunday morning. I want us to feel the gravity of the situation, and see the responses of 3 people, who were very dear to Jesus.
First is Mary Magdalene. Magdalene was not her last name, but rather where she was from, the town of Magdala, from around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had cast 7 demons out of her Luke 8:2 tells us. Mary had become one of Jesus’ most loyal disciples. She was present at the crucifixion and now in John 20, is the first one to arrive to the tomb. Why? Jesus had been put in the tomb so quickly on Friday evening, the beginning of the Sabbath, that they didn’t have time to really prepare Jesus body for proper burial. She was coming with spices and so forth to take care of Jesus’ body.
Where is her mind? On the here and now. On the task ahead. The one I’ve been following for 3 years, the man who filled your soul by just looking at you, …he’s dead. I was there. I witnessed it with his mother and the disciple John. It’s over. The man who delivered me from 7 demons, who freed me from involuntary spiritual battle, …he’s gone. The least I can do is honor him by anointing his remains. Life is over as Mary knew it, and instead of hiding in fear, or wallowing in grief, she pulls herself up in her bootstraps, so to speak, and gets on with it. Off to the tomb to bring her burial spices.
But when she got there, the tomb was rolled away! So she runs to Peter and John and tells them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!” Interesting first reaction. Practical. If the body isn’t there, obviously someone had moved it. Bodies don’t get up and move on their own. Because they are dead. Dead people don’t move, right?
Insult to injury here. Not only killed, hope smashed, but now indignity. Did the Romans do it? Who moved the body? In verse 11 of ch.20, Mary is beyond distraught. She is at the tomb weeping. She had a direction before: anoint the body. Now she cannot even do that for Jesus. Where to go from here? In that moment 2 angels show up standing in the tomb at the head and foot of where Jesus body had been. They ask her why she’s crying. Mary again says that someone has taken Jesus’ body. Mary is bewildered by it all. Cannot understand what’s happened.
And then there’s Peter. Peter, the man who often spoke without thinking, who jumped without looking, and who pledged loyalty to Jesus, only to deny him 3 times at Jesus’ lowest point. Peter was part of the inner circle of disciples: Peter James and John. Only these three were chosen by Jesus to see his full glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, as Jesus talked with Elijah and Moses. Only these three heard God the Father’s voice call down blessing in that moment.
Peter is also the one who rebuked Jesus for saying that he would die and raised again in three days. Then Jesus rebuked Peter and said, you don’t have God’s plan in mind, just your own. Like Mary, he’d also followed Jesus for the past three years. Gave up, or at least suspended his fishing business on the Sea of Galilee to follow this rabbi. He too, knew what it felt like to have Jesus just look at you, and your soul would fill till almost bursting.
Peter pledged loyalty, but when push came to shove, denied Jesus 3 times. Didn’t stand up for Jesus. Didn’t open his mouth to say anything on his behalf other than, “I never knew the man”. It is to Peter that Mary runs to tell the tomb is open. Peter, like Mary, had so much invested in Jesus. Now, all of it was gone. Jesus was dead. His reaction? I’ve failed. I’ve denied. I don’t belong with the rest. Sure, I didn’t betray him like Judas, but I didn’t speak for him when I could have. Worse, I denied ever knowing him. His response to Jesus death is confusion and defeat. It was regret and failure. Not sure if I deserve to be counted as one of Jesus’ followers anymore. What could the empty tomb mean? Total confusion.
Then look at John. Mary runs to get Peter and John, so the men run to the tomb. John, who writes the gospel, tells us that he got there first. Don’t tell me guys aren’t competitive. John was in the inner circle. He’d seen the miracles too. He’d seen Jesus’ transfiguration just like Peter. John was even given the special task to look after Mary, Jesus mother. He may have been the closest friend that Jesus had. And you know most men only have a couple of really, truly close friends. John was his. When John got there, and saw the linen strips lying there as if his body had evaporated, and the head cloth folded neatly, he saw and believed.
If you were going to steal the body, you’d take the wrappings with you. You wouldn’t want to be touching a dead body. You wouldn’t take the time to neatly fold the head cloth and leave it behind. You wouldn’t arrange the strips of cloth just like his body had been lying there. There’s just no point to that. John saw the tomb and believed. He remembered what Jesus had said, and put it all together.
So three witnesses, three different responses. Mary was bewildered…confused. Peter? Confused and feeling unworthy, that he’d failed. John? He saw and believed. So, what’s the point?
Obviously, we want to model our response to the empty tomb like John. We want to see, and believe. Put your faith and trust in Jesus today, even if you feel like your world is crumbling around you. He is alive and you can trust him.
But I love Jesus’ response to both Mary Magdalene and Peter. To Mary, who was distraught, worried, focused on the here and now, on the practical things of life, Jesus calls out her name, “Mary”. In that moment, she froze in her tracks. He knows my name. It’s him and he’s alive. Some of you today need to know that Jesus knows your name, your situation, and the trials you face. He knows your name, and he’s calling for you. Quit trying to puzzle it all out in your head, like Mary was. Whatever you are facing, just trust and believe. Put your faith in Him. He knows your name.
And look at Jesus’ response to Peter. He takes him aside by the Sea of Galilee, and says, do you love me Peter? Feed my sheep. Three times for three denials. Jesus knew Peter loved him, but his faith had failed. He took his eyes off Jesus and put them on his problems. He lost his focus and ended up denying Jesus. Do you love me Peter? You’ve got a job to do. Do it.
Life comes at us fast. And how we respond to it makes all the difference. What will you do with the empty tomb moments of life? Walk away bewildered like Mary? Focus on the here and now, get the practical stuff done so we don’t have to feel the pain of it all? Or will we, like John see and believe? Maybe you came this morning, knowing that you are not where you should be with God. You KNOW that in your heart of hearts, something is amiss. Something stands between you and God. Maybe it wasn’t outright betrayal, like Judas or Peter, but it’s there nonetheless. Jesus wants you to believe too. He isn’t done with you. He’s got a job for you to do. Believe him. Love him. Know him.
What will you do with Jesus? You don’t have to be bewildered by it all. You don’t have to wonder if you are good enough. (The secret is, none of us are. That’s why we needed the cross.) You are valuable in God’s eyes. He loves you today and calls you to relationship with him.
Sin separates us from God, and trusting in the cross of Jesus and his forgiveness cleanses us. Believe in that. Trust in that. Know that Jesus is risen today, and is coming again for us, so we can be with him in eternity. Pray with me now, please.
God forgive our sin. Forgive us for when we’ve failed you. Lord our sin has separated us long enough. Cleanse us. Renew us. Make us useful in your kingdom. Help us to grow in you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
