Why Are You Crying? John 20: 1 - 18
Intro: The young mom was driving her 3-year-old child to church early on Easter morning. As she drove she told the Easter story. “This is the day we celebrate Jesus coming back to life.” From the back seat she heard, “Will He be in church today?”
I. Did you come here this morning expecting to see Jesus? What brought Mary to the tomb?
A Verse 1 – visiting the tomb of a dead friend.
B. Verse 2 – Mary is outraged because her expectations are not met.
C My friend, Betty went to mausoleum every day to “visit” Bob following his funeral. She poured out her feelings, thoughts and emotions to Bob knowing he was not really there; but, it made her feel better. One day while "visiting" with Bob, she looked up at the name freshly chiseled on the stone. It wasn’t Bob. She went to the cemetary office to complain about the error and discovered she had been "visiting" with a perfect stranger at the wrong tomb.
II. Verse 3 thru 8 – they went looking for the same thing, a dead Jesus.
A. Didn’t understand what they had seen. They just knew that Jesus was not there.
B. We know that they were looking for the wrong thing; but they didn’t. – They searched but didn’t find anything.
C. If you come to church expecting nothing, that is exactly what you will find.
III. Verses 10 – 13 – Angels ask her why she is crying. She doesn’t know.
A Verse 15 – Jesus speaks to her in the quiet of a garden. And she is still unaware.
B. Verse 16 – MARY – a personal encounter with the risen Christ. – the unexpected – this is where Jesus will come to meet you.
C. The Christ of 2,000 yrs ago, what he taught, suffered, impresses them -- stand on Calvary with emotion but they have not experienced the risen Christ.
Conclu: “Why are you weeping?” Jesus and the angels ask Mary – Good question in light of the resurrection of Jesus.
We may have reason to weep / suffer many wounds / are we weeping for ourselves? Do we feel sorry for ourselves? Regardless, Christ will come to console. We, like Mary, may not recognize Him at first. But the Living Lord stands ready today to speak your name and wipe the tears away from our eyes.
