Resurrection, Mary Magdalene, and You
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
David C. Wright
John 20:1-18
April 4, 2010 - Easter Sunday

         It happened one Palm Sunday in Mrs. Jenkins’ Sunday School class.  She asked her four year-old students, “Does anyone know what day it is today?”  One bright-eyed little girl responded, “Sure.  It’s Palm Sunday!”  “Very good,” said Mrs. Jenkins.  “And does anyone know what next Sunday is?”  The same little one raised her hand and said, “Easter!”  “And why is Easter so important?” inquired Mrs. Jenkins.  “Because Jesus came back to life on that day,” and just before Mrs. Jenkins could congratulate her on her good answer, she continued, “but if he sees his shadow, he has to go back inside for six more weeks!” 
          There is some confusion out there about Easter, and it’s not confined to four year-olds!  Most of us know the story, but we may not be clear about why Easter is so important.  And we may not understand what difference it makes to us that a man was raised from the dead 2000 years ago.  The story of the resurrection as it is told in John’s gospel gives us some clues.
          Like all the gospel writers, John tells the story of Jesus’ astonishing life and ministry.  Then in chapters 12-19, he tells the terrible events of Holy Week:  Jesus’ betrayal by a close friend, his arrest and sham trial, the abandonment by his disciples, and his scourging and horrific execution on the cross on Good Friday.  Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ,” gives us a sense of just how brutally violent and gruesome those events were.  After his death, Jesus’ body was laid in a tomb to await further burial preparation after the Sabbath day was complete.  Sunday morning came and John tells us that Mary Magdalene was the first to arrive at the tomb and found it empty.  She was distraught and went for help.  She found Peter and John and told them the news.  They came and found things as she had told them.  Confused, they returned to their homes, leaving Mary alone at the tomb.  We pick up the story in John 20:11. 
         11  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb;
         12  and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
         13  They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
         14  When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
         15  Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
         16  Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher).
         17  Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
         18  Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18.)
          The story begins with Mary, who was confused and sad and very lonely.  She was standing outside the rock-hewn tomb of Jesus, not knowing what to do.  The man she had followed faithfully, who had made a profound difference in her life, who she expected to reign as a king over Israel- was dead, having died a horrible, shameful death like a common criminal.  Why didn’t he use some of his miraculous powers to deliver himself from those who wanted to kill him?  Did he simply lack the power to do so?  She not only grieved for the unjust loss of her dear friend, but her hopes and dreams of a new future had also been shattered.  The disciples, who were not noted for their sensitivity, had abandoned her as she stood weeping outside the tomb.  And now it appeared to her that someone had stolen Jesus’ body.  Jews abhorred any disrespect shown to a corpse, so this would have further deepened her distress.  All of this contributed to her fragile state of mind.  That’s why the text refers four times to her weeping!  She was a wreck.
          Some of you also know about despair and grieving.  Your lives have not turned out the way you expected them to.  You didn’t get the education you had hoped for.  You’re stuck in a job you hate.  Your marriage or family life is a wreck.  There is little joy in your life anymore.  Or, perhaps you have been severely disappointed with retirement.  Maybe you are coping with chronic illness.  Or, a loved one died prematurely leaving you alone.  Many of us know despair and grieving.
          This passage gives us an important insight into our lowest times.  Like Mary, sometimes our disappointments are compounded by the assumptions we make.  Mary assumed that the conventional wisdom was truet: once dead, always dead.  That’s a pretty safe assumption, isn’t it?  I don’t think any of us here have seen an exception to that rule!  So we certainly can’t criticize her.  But based on that assumption, Mary made several false deductions.  She believed Jesus’ body must have been stolen.  How else could it move?  She believed the man speaking to her in the garden was the gardener.  Who else could be there at that hour?  Her assumptions led her to false conclusions that only deepened her sense of grief.
          We make false assumptions, too, in the midst of our hard times.  We may assume that God is punishing us by causing the painful situation in which we find ourselves.  We may assume that we truly are all alone, and will never find any real comfort, that things will never get better for us.  We may assume that the best we can do in this life is to indulge ourselves with food, drink, and material possessions.  
          False assumptions like Mary’s can lock us into rigid ways of thinking that imprison us in our current dilemma.  They keep us from seeing things the way they really are, and from seeing things the way they could be in the future.  There was Jesus, staring her in the face, the solution to all her grief and despair, but because of her false assumptions, she couldn’t recognize him!  Our false assumptions can do the same thing to us. 
          But notice how Mary’s false assumptions and grief were overturned. (verse 16) “Jesus said to her, “Mary!”  She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (Which means Teacher.)”  (John 20:16) The breakthrough came when she heard Jesus call her name.  “Mary!”  The sound of the voice that she knew so well shattered her false assumptions about the absolute power of death and all the other deductions that flowed from that assumption.  His resurrection authenticated his ministry and teaching.  With overflowing joy, she clung to him.
          Encountering the risen Christ can help us break through our false assumptions about life, too.  You may have assumed that you are a loser, destined to a life of failure.  But the resurrection reminds us that God is in the business of making all things new, including you!  And if the story of Jesus tells us anything, it tells us that God has no desire to punish you for your sins, but rather waits expectantly for your return to him!  You may assume that difficult things are happening to you because of something you’ve done or haven’t done, but the cross and resurrection remind us that many of these things happen simply because we live in a fallen world, where real evil exists.  Jesus certainly didn’t do anything to deserve what happened to him.  And the story reminds us that many people experience terrible disappointments (as Mary did), yet go on to find fulfilling lives in new and unexpected ways.  Allow the risen Christ to shatter your false assumptions.  And then be open to seeing things in a new light.
(Back to the story)  After the puzzling conversation where Jesus tells Mary not to cling to him because he hasn’t yet ascended to the Father, Mary received a task. (verse 17b) “…go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’  Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and she told them that he had said these things to her.”  (John 20:17,18) Being discouraged, disillusioned, or in despair does not excuse us from doing the tasks to which God calls us. 

God has work for you to do!  The resurrection reminds you that Christ is alive and will help you carry out that work.
          Several years ago I traveled to MacDowell County, West Virginia to scout out work for a summer mission trip.  We were to do home repair for needy Appalachian families.  On the set-up trip, I specifically remember visiting the home of a Mrs. Green. Although Mrs. Green was not home at the time of my visit, the house conveyed a sense of despair- of someone who has given up hope in this life.  There was clutter all around the yard and on the porch. Several windows were broken out, allowing the cold mountain weather to infiltrate the house. Inside, I noticed a large unrepaired hole in the floor, and the whole house was badly in need of cleaning. Nothing had been painted for many years.
          The next time I visited the house was early during the week of our mission project. One of our crews was busy at work. They were repairing windows, replacing rotted floor joists, fixing that hole in the floor, weatherstripping doors, etc. Mrs. Green was there with her disabled husband and their three children, one of whom was mentally-challenged. She was not aware that God was working through those Sr. Highers and adults to do far more than repair her house. She was about to experience the real meaning of her (first) name.
          The work crew reported that early in the week, Mrs. Green and the kids were not very communicative. They kept to themselves and watched the work from a distance.   However, as the week went on, the Greens became much more involved. One morning, the crew arrived and saw what they believed to be a brand-new kitchen floor. They later learned that Mrs. Green had worked hard all night to clean and paint it.  It just looked new!
          Over the week, the Greens took the initiative to put curtains on the windows, cleaned up the junk from around the house, and readily pitched in to help with the work. And they welcomed an opportunity to pray with the group when it was presented to them.
          And Mrs. Green, Mrs. Easter Green, experienced personally the meaning of her name. Through the labor of ordinary folks like you and me, she experienced the truth that God is alive and that she is not alone in her suffering.  She learned that whatever false assumptions she had been making about her plight were not true- that things can get better.  She learned that God knows her name- and her address!  And she experienced the fact that this same God uses regular people like us to communicate his love and care to others.  The knowledge that God was with her in her predicament gave her renewed hope and the courage to try to rebuild her life.  And she did.
          Presbyterian pastor and writer Eugene Peterson wrote this: “The gospel message says:  “You don’t live in a mechanistic world ruled by necessity;  you don’t live in a random world ruled by chance;  you live in a world ruled by the God of Exodus and Easter.  He will do things in you that neither you nor your friends would have supposed possible.” 
          Easter assures us that God can do anything in our lives.  What assumptions do you make about life that need to be challenged?  How could an encounter with the risen, living Christ affect those assumptions?  How can you prepare your self for such an encounter?  What tasks does Jesus have for you to do in service of his kingdom?  Trust the God of Easter.  “He will do things in you that neither you nor your friends would have supposed possible.”

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