The Tragedy and the Triumph
John 20:1-10
March 27, 2005
Easter Sunday
Introduction
This past Friday the church celebrated Good Friday with a showing of the Passion of the Christ. Many of you have seen the movie and experienced the powerful images that Mel Gibson used to convey the suffering of Jesus. I believe the movie gives us a very real glimpse at the price Jesus paid for our sins and the depth of His love and mercy for us.
The movie is without a doubt filled with unforgettable images of those last few hours of Christ’s life. Who could forget Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane or the image of Jesus being brutally beaten at the scourging post. Who could forget the sight of Jesus embracing His cross as they led Him out toward Golgatha or the portrayal of Jesus forgiving those who crucified Him.
There is one more scene in the movie that made an incredible impact on me but it is not a scene of suffering. As the Passion closes, the final scene shows the grave clothes of Jesus.
Grave clothes were a sign of the end. They were a sign that hope was no longer an option. They were a symbol that death was once again victorious. The burial of Jesus was rather complex in its workings. Pilate had to give permission for His body to be taken. Joseph of Arimathea had to allow for the use of his own personal tomb. Nicodemus had to bring the spices and the women who had followed Jesus were there to help bury Him.
It is an image of tragedy. It is an image of truth. It is an image of triumph. Here is the closing scene of the Passion of the Christ.
Open your Bibles with me to John 20:1-10
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!" 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes,
I. Mary saw the grave clothes as a tragedy
Mary had seen more than her fair share of tragedy during the previous few days and her task that first Easter morning was a grim reminder of it. It was early, before daybreak and Mary Magdalene was headed for a place she would rather not be going to.
Mary was going out to the place where they had buried Jesus just a few days before. She was going to perform a gruesome task. The burial of Jesus had been rushed because of the approaching sabbath at night fall. The anointing of Jesus’ body had not been finished and now Mary was going out to complete the task. It was something she had prepared herself for but as she neared the tomb something was wrong. The stone had been rolled away and the body of Jesus was gone.
This seemed to be just one more tragedy to add to the growing list for Mary.
• Mary had watched as Jesus was given a mockery of a trial
• Mary had watched as Jesus was flogged by Roman soldiers
• Mary had watched as Jesus was led away to be crucified
• Mary had watched as Jesus was nailed to the cross
• Mary had watched as the soldier rammed the spear into Jesus side
• Mary had helped as Jesus was buried
• Mary had watched as the stone was rolled into place
Mary sees the tomb open and then runs to tell Peter and John. As she reaches them notice the words that she uses to describe what has happened. "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!" The words ooze with tragedy. They hang in the air and reveal the depth of her pain. These words show the reality of tragic events continuing to unfold. Mary saw the grave clothes as a tragedy that left her with a broken heart.
Mary’s logic does make sense at this point. Jesus was dead and the hopes of His kingdom seemed to die with Him. The hopes of the Messiah had been wrapped in the grave clothes right along with Jesus and laid behind the stone. The body of Jesus was gone and was nowhere to be found. The body had been presumed stolen with no way of being able to find it. For Mary this was just another tragedy to add to her list.
You can relate to Mary because you have seen your fair share of tragedy as well.
• You felt the sting of tragedy when your spouse called it quits
• You felt the pain of tragedy when you learned of a personal illness
• You felt the power of tragedy when your loved one passed away
• You felt the loneliness of tragedy when you turned away from God.
II. Peter saw the grave clothes as a truth
When Peter and john hear the news that Jesus’ body was gone, they immediately run out to the tomb to investigate. John outruns Peter and is the first to see the grave clothes. Peter arrives and is the first to enter the tomb.
As Peter enters the tomb he makes an incredible discovery, the body of Jesus was indeed gone but there was a problem. The grave clothes were undisturbed making it impossible for the body to have been stolen. The grave clothes were divided into two parts for the burial of Jesus. The first section were the strips of linen that would have been used to wrap the body, much like that of a mummy. The second part was the burial cloth that was used to cover the head.
What is described in John’s gospel is essentially what we just saw in the Passion. The grave clothes were empty as if the body were removed by passing through them. The burial cloth was folded upon itself, this means that it formed a kind of shell.
How Peter responds to the grave clothes is striking. Peter sees the facts of the resurrection in front of him with no way to deny the reality. Peter saw the stone rolled away. He saw the tomb was empty and not ransacked. Peter saw the facts but left the place without a conclusion. Peter goes home shaking his head in wonder and makes no response to the facts in front of him.
Maybe you’re like Peter you see the things with a Joe Friday approach by looking at “just the facts”
• Maybe you look at life through the fact that you’ve been hurt one too many times.
• Maybe you look at life with the fact that you’ve been given a raw deal.
• Maybe you look at life through the fact that sometimes life is beyond your control.
III. John saw the grave clothes as a triumph
John was there with Peter at the tomb that first Easter and he saw everything that Peter saw but his response to it was much different. John saw the stone, he saw the empty tomb but John saw the grave clothes for what they were, a sign of the resurrection. John responded to the facts in front of him not with more questions but instead he saw it with faith.
John had arrived first at the tomb but waited for Peter to go into the tomb. John saw the grave clothes at a distance and was already trying to understand what had happened. When John takes that step into the tomb that day he was not just looking for answers, he was looking for truth.
As John saw the facts unfold in front of him, he saw the grave clothes not as a sign of tragedy or just part of the tomb; he saw them as a sign of triumph. The grave clothes in the empty tomb communicate a powerful message - Jesus is alive! Jesus took the grave clothes to the tomb and left them there as a sign that He had defeated death and that the power of the resurrection was indeed real.
The symbol of death had become a sign of life. The symbol of despair had become a sign of hope. The symbol of a bitter end had become the sign of a new beginning. The grave clothes that were the evidence of death became the evidence that Jesus is alive.
The grave clothes prove to us that Jesus can take your greatest tragedies of life and give the greatest triumph. The grave clothes prove that Jesus can move you from just facts to genuine faith. Jesus can take the brokenness of your life and give you a fresh start. All you need to do is accept it.
What is Easter all about?
Easter is about the tragedy of the grave clothes blended with the facts of the empty tomb to reveal the triumph of the resurrection. Has the power of Easter touched your life? What will you do with the facts of the empty tomb?
This morning if God is tugging at your heart come to the altar and discover the power of the resurrection through the grave clothes of Jesus.
