"The Resurrection and the Life"
John 20:1-18
Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb crying.
Mary had been one of Jesus' closest followers.
You see, Jesus had many more followers than just the 12 disciples.
There were a number of women who were part of His ministry as well--part of His inner circle.
And these women--their lives had been miraculously changed by Jesus.
In Luke Chapter 8 we are told that "Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God."
The disciples were with Him along with some women "who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases.
Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out" was with Jesus.
And it says that "these women were helping support [Jesus and His disciples] out of their own means."
And more than likely, Mary Magdalene was the same Mary whose brother, Lazarus had died, and whom Jesus had then raised from the dead.
She had a sister named Martha.
You probably remember the story of when Jesus was visiting Mary and Martha and Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to His message while Martha was getting everything ready for the meal.
Another time, Jesus was reclining at Mary and Martha's home--this was only six days before Jesus' Crucifixion--and Mary took "about a pint of...expensive perfume...poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair."
Mary Magdalene very well could have been Jesus' closest confidant, His most loyal disciple.
And on Easter Morning, she is the first person to visit Jesus' tomb.
And she was the one who ran and told Simon Peter and John that Jesus' body was missing.
After having checked it out for themselves, Peter and John returned to the place they were staying...
...the place where they were hiding...
...but not Mary...
..."Mary stood outside near the tomb crying."
You know, if the author's of the Gospels had wanted to tell some fibs in order to make their case for Jesus' Resurrection more believable to the readers they would not have told us that the first person to see the Resurrected Christ was a woman.
And the reason for this is that the witness or testimony of a woman was not considered credible in those days.
Women weren't even allowed to testify in court.
And there was a running theological debate as to whether or not women even had souls.
It was a man's world!!!
Women were property.
They were here to serve men and that's it.
It was even considered a "waste of time" by most to even engage a women in conversation.
They had no rights and were considered to be ignorant and unreliable.
But here we have it.
The single biggest and most important event to occur in the entire Christian religion...
...The one thing that our entire faith hangs on...
...the only reason we are here this morning...
...is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
And it is a women who saw and believed in the Risen Christ first!!!
She is the one who ran to tell the others.
It would have been so easy, to just substitute Peter's name for Mary.
It would have made it easier to swallow for the people of that day to read and believe.
But no.
This is how it happened, and so this is how it is written and preserved for us--no apologies; no lies.
We are told that when the rest of the disciples fled Mary was one of the few people who stood and watched Jesus' entire crucifixion.
She "stood near the cross."
And even though Jesus had told Mary and the rest of His disciples many times that He would have to be crucified and then He would rise from the dead, they didn't understand what He was talking about.
It's interesting that when the tomb is first found empty, neither Mary Magdalene nor any of the other disciples are believers in the Resurrected Christ.
What they thought is that "someone" had stolen Jesus' body and hid it somewhere.
And so, Mary, whose heart had already been shattered by Jesus' arrest and Crucifixion was even more blown away by the fact that someone had robbed His grave.
Talk about adding insult to injury!!!
Talk about a cruel joke!!!
Talk about getting salt poured into your wounds!!!
Talk about pain.
Talk about hurt!!!
Talk feeling hopeless!!!
Have you ever felt hopeless?
Have you ever felt so much pain that you could hardly stand it--so much that you didn't know if you could go on?
This entire world is in a lot of hurt isn't it?
We have the terror attacks; these events break our hearts and cause worry.
There is so much hatred and vitriol going on in the political arena and on the world stage--it really is staggering.
We have wars breaking out all over.
People are angry.
People are afraid.
People are crying.
There is an extremely interesting book that recently came out.
It's called "Switched On."
It's written by a guy named John Elder Robison.
John Elder Robison was born with Autism.
Some people with autism have trouble talking or understanding language.
This wasn't John's problem.
He was born without the ability to read unspoken cues--body language, tone of voice, expressions and emotions.
From an early age, John knew there was something different about him--even though he wasn't properly diagnosed until he was age 40--because the other children didn't want to play with him.
John didn't have any friends, and so he concentrated on what he was good at, and he became a successful mechanic.
He also invented the guitars that the rock group Kiss use to shoot fire and sparks while they play.
In any event, about eight years ago John was chosen by a leading Neurosurgeon to take part in a medical study aimed at treating the brain function of persons with autism spectrum disorders.
John wanted to take part in the study.
He had always thought that if he could only receive emotional cues from other people he would be surrounded by light, and love and good feelings.
His life would be perfect.
For John the experiment worked, but the results were not what he had expected.
In his book, John describes going to work and having the overwhelming sensation of being able to read the emotions of his co-workers for the first time.
He said it seemed as though he had ESP.
But the emotions which he read on the faces of these persons were anxiety, avarice, hatred, insecurity, anger, depression.
This threw John into a tailspin.
Then he started to think back on memories from his childhood--things which had occurred, but which he had never understood due to his disability.
For instance, he remembered times when groups of children had been standing around him laughing.
And now, for the first time, John realized and understood that they had been laughing at him!
All these negative emotions took John to the brink of suicide.
What other people had always been able to feel and understand--the non-verbal cues from others--were so shocking and horrible that it nearly killed John when he was finally able to feel and understand these things.
There is so much negativity in this world.
There are so many anxious and unhappy people.
So many of us are just "out for ourselves" with little or no thought for others.
Greed, lust, and selfishness rule so many of our hearts.
We hurt ourselves and others.
And we miss out on joy, light, love and happiness as a result.
Sometimes it seems as if the entire world is standing outside the tomb of their lives, crying.
On that first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene stood outside near the tomb where they had put Jesus' dead body, and she was crying.
All her hope had been dashed.
Her reason for living had been Crucified on a Cross.
And now, she couldn't even come to pay her respects because someone had stolen Jesus' body...
...or so she thought.
Now let's look a little bit closer at the story itself.
We are told that as Mary cried, "she bent down to look into the tomb.
She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been."
"The angels asked her, 'Woman why are you crying?'
She replied, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've put him.'"
Then she saw Jesus standing near her, but she didn't recognize Him.
She thought he was the gardener.
She asked if He had "stolen or taken the body."
But then Jesus called her by name: "Mary" He said.
And at the sound of Jesus calling her name, "Mary turned" and saw the Resurrected Christ--and she believed and knew He was alive.
The word for "turned" is very similar to the word "conversion."
And here we see Mary's conversion.
She turned or was turned from non-comprehension to a "knowing faith."
She had come to the tomb that morning to do the well-intended business of taking care of Jesus' dead body; it was a hopeless act really.
And when she saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, there was no God-talk going on.
Instead, she ran and told Peter that "They"--some mysterious and evil minded thieves had taken His body from the tomb.
Peter and the other disciple came running.
They saw and believed that the body had been taken.
And then they left.
And so, unturned and unconverted, Mary wept outside the empty tomb.
When the angels asked Mary why she was crying she again said "they" must have done something, not that God had done anything.
And then she turned around and saw Jesus; but still, with unconverted eyes and an unconverted heart, she didn't recognize Him.
She believed in the presence of a gardener, but did not yet believe in the presence of a risen Christ.
Then, she heard an ordinary word: but it was spoken by the risen Christ--in order to bring about faith and hope.
She turned her face to Him and then she REALLY TURNED which is exactly what conversion is.
She saw and believed, and now she had to tell others.
And her life and the life of the other disciples--including the lives of you and me would never be the same again.
What pain and difficulties are you dealing with this morning?
Have you been hurt by the negative social and emotional cues given off by the world?
Are you crying at the tomb of your life?
Do you know about the Resurrection but struggle to believe it when you see it?
Are you like Mary in the garden, staring at Jesus in the face but not recognizing Him?
If so, Jesus is calling out to you.
Jesus is calling your name.
Jesus is calling you to see Him by loving your neighbor--giving a drink to the thirsty, caring for the least of these.
Jesus is calling you to see Him by praying for your enemies and turning the other cheek.
Jesus is calling you to leave behind all the things of this life that hold you captive so that you can follow Him.
And when we do that, our lives are Resurrected.
And we begin to love in ways that we never knew possible.
We are turned.
And we run and tell others.
