John 20:10-18: THE RESURRECTION: THE REAL REASON FOR HOPE AND OPTIMISM
This past week there was a major earthquake in Afghanistan – the death toll is pretty high, and it continues to rise. Earthquakes always mean trouble.
But not always. On Easter morning, the Bible tells us that there was an earthquake. But what happened after that earthquake is the opposite of what happened in Afghanistan. After that earthquake on Easter morning, the death toll was not rising. Actually – the opposite took place – on Easter, the number of dead grew smaller - one dead body was missing – a grave was empty - and that’s because someone was no longer dead but alive.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ doesn’t just change the way we look at earthquakes – it changes the way we look at everything. This morning, we’re going to see how Jesus’ resurrection changed one woman, Mary Magdalene. Today I want you to put yourself in her shoes – I want you to be her for the next 15 minutes. I want you to feel her sadness, but I also want you to feel her joy and comfort when she realizes that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. How does the resurrection of Jesus Christ change you? This morning we find the answer…
We find Mary Magdalene at the tomb, and she was crying. She was shedding tears of hopelessness, tears of despair and frustration. For some time now, she had been following the Teacher, Jesus Christ. She had thought that perhaps he was the Messiah. He had healed her of demon possession, and more importantly, he had shown her how to have peace with God. He had made so many promises. He had said so many good things. He had even performed miracles. But now he was dead. And all the things he had said and done were dead with him. How can you hope in someone who is dead? For Mary Magdalene, the world had become a very cruel place – a place of broken promises, unfulfilled dreams, and big disappointments. And to top it off, it seemed that someone had stolen the body of Christ – could things get any worse? It’s no wonder that she’s crying.
Have you ever had moments like Mary Magdalene? Moments when the world seemed like a very cruel place – a place of broken promises, unfulfilled dreams, big disappointments? The world can be a very difficult place to live, and the Devil uses those difficult moments to make you feel hopeless and despairing. The Devil wants you to say to yourself, “God is dead. There is no hope.”
A lot has happened since last Easter. Perhaps the most momentous event was the bombing of the World Trade Center. Just recently we remembered the 6 month anniversary of that event. When you see the footage – you are tempted to think, “God is dead. There is no hope.” When an earthquake kills thousands, when a tornado kills hundreds, you are tempted to think, “God is dead. There is no hope.” When the job that seemed so secure a year ago suddenly disappears today, when your health suddenly takes a turn for the worse, you are tempted to think, “God is dead. There is no hope.”
When you look into your past and consider all the mistakes you have made in life, all the words and actions you wish you could take back, but you can’t, you cannot help but feel a sense of hopelessness. “Is there any way I can change the past? Is there any way I can make right the wrong things I have done?” The answer is no. And then we feel what Mary felt – an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and despair.
Mary was dealing with the death of a loved one. What happens when you have to deal with that? Perhaps you’ve dealt with it, or maybe you’re dealing with it right now. When a loved one dies, or when you face your own mortality, it feels as though you’re facing the end of the road. To think that there is anything positive beyond death is far-fetched, we say to ourselves.
What hope does the world have to offer? Not much. “This is all there is,” many people say, “So you better grab what you can while you can.” That turns people into very self-centered creatures, glorified animals really. A life that is truly here-focused, me-focused, is truly a wasted life, and with it comes loneliness, greed, and ultimately, hell. Maybe that person puts on a happy face, but it’s a face that’s covering up feelings of hopelessness.
What hope does the world have to offer? Be a positive thinker, people say. Can you imagine going up to Mary Magdalene as she’s crying, and saying to her, “Everything will be alright, Mary, just think positive thoughts!” That’s ridiculous. And yet, that’s the best comfort our world is able to offer. To tell someone to be optimistic without any real reason for being optimistic is really quite silly. That causes even greater feelings of hopelessness and despair. There has to be a reason to be optimistic.
Mary Magdalene found that reason on Easter morning. She looked into the tomb, and found that it wasn’t empty after all – two angels were in the tomb, and one of them asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” Mary said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” Then she turned around, and there was Jesus, standing right behind her. She didn’t recognize him right away. Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Mary wasn’t thinking clearly. She thought that Jesus the gardener. She said to Jesus, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” At this point, Mary still believes that Jesus is dead. She still believes that his body is missing, that she must find the body so that she can give it a proper burial. The Messiah was still dead. There was still no hope.
But Mary was wrong – there was hope. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” So many times, Jesus had called her by her name while he was alive. And now she heard that familiar voice call her name called again. She looked up, and realized that it was Jesus. The Bible tells us that she was so excited that she called out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” which means teacher. She grasped Jesus’ legs and did not want to let him go. Somehow, he was alive! Jesus told her that she need not to hold on to him like that any longer. He wouldn’t be leaving her in death, like he had done before. Soon he would be returning to the Father, but he would be with her and his followers always. “Go, and tell the brothers that I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary quickly returned to the disciples and told them that she had seen the Lord.
What a turn-around for Mary! One minute God is dead, and there is no hope. But then she sees that Jesus is alive. God is not dead. There is hope! There is a reason to be joyful, to be hopeful, to be optimistic. Jesus was alive and well, and that’s what changed her. Her hero was alive. We all love heroes. But there is only one hero in all the world who has died, and then has come back to life – Jesus Christ.
This one-on-one moment that Mary has with Jesus also belongs to you. When things look hopeless, remember – it’s not a dead end. There is another way that leads to hope. There was once a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. Some of his friends asked him, “Why have you become a Christian?” He answered, “Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go. And there in the road were two men, one dead, and one alive. Which one would you ask which way to go?”
For every person in life, there is a fork in the road. To be a Christian, or to not be a Christian. One way is littered with nothing but death – unfulfilled dreams, broken promises, empty optimism, charismatic leaders who are dead. But there is another way, and in that fork stands someone who is alive. Someone who does not break his promises, someone who knows what your dreams are and promises to fulfill them beyond what you could ever imagine, someone who gives you a real reason to be optimistic. In verse 16, when Jesus says, “Mary,” you can substitute your name there. Jesus comes to you, during your lowest moments in life, when it seems as though God is dead, that there is no hope, Jesus comes to you, and says to you, “Why are you crying?” And then he calls you by your first name, and reminds you: “I am alive. I have risen from the dead.” And, like Mary Magdalene, you see your risen Savior. You find resurrection hope, joy and comfort and relief, the same feelings Mary felt that first Easter morning.
The death of a loved one, your own death – you no longer have to feel hopeless when you face those things. Jesus calls out your name, and reminds you that he has experienced death himself, he has overcome death, and promises you that because of him, death is not the end of the road for you.
When you look into your past and you wonder how you can ever make up for all the mistakes you have made, Jesus calls out your name, and reminds you: “I died for your mistakes. God the Father has accepted my sacrifice for you – that’s why he raised me from the dead. I’m alive, and that’s proof that God has forgiven you. You do have peace with God right now.”
Only one thing can bring hope to a hopeless situation. Only one thing can bring joy where there is only sadness. Only one thing can bring life where there is nothing but death. Only one thing can give you a real reason to be optimistic. And that one thing is knowing that Jesus Christ is alive, right now – he has risen from the dead.
In the Greek Orthodox tradition, the day after Easter is devoted to telling jokes. They felt they were imitating the cosmic joke that God pulled on Satan in the resurrection. Satan thought that he had won, and was smug in his victory, smiling to himself, having the last word. So he thought. The God raised Jesus from the dead, and life and salvation became the last words.
In your life, the Devil will never have the last word. There will always be a reason to hope, because Jesus is alive. His promises are alive. His assurance of eternal life for you are alive.
What’s it like to have a hopeful heart? In the early 1920’s in Communist Russia, the great communist Nikolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally. For an hour he abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if it were hopeless for anyone to believe in Christianity. Then questions were invited. An Orthodox church priest rose and asked to speak. He walked up behind the podium, faced the people, and gave the Easter greeting, “He is risen!” Instantly the assembly of thousands rose to its feet and shouted back loud and clear, “He is risen indeed!”
That’s resurrection hope, even when everything seems hopeless. Nothing could shake the faith of those people. They knew that Jesus was alive, regardless of what they heard at the anti-God rally, and that’s what gave them hope.
It is true that empty things can be the pits. From empty cereal boxes to empty cartons of milk, from empty gas tanks to empty refrigerators, from empty wallets to empty checkbooks, from empty nests to empty chairs at the dining table. From empty promises to empty threats, from empty hearts to empty lives. But there is one empty thing that is not the pits, and that is the empty tomb on Easter morning.
That empty tomb filled Mary Magdalene’s heard with an incredible sense of joy and comfort and hope. It changed her life forever. Jesus is just as much alive today as he was on that first Easter morning. The comfort and hope you receive this morning from the Word of God is just as real as the comfort and hope Mary received. Mary returned to those disciples a different person – someone whose world had changed for the better. As you leave here this morning and return home, may you carry with you that same hope that Mary felt. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Amen.
