John 20:1-18. He is Risen Indeed!! 4/4/10
(John 20:1-18) 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, {11} but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb {12} and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. {13} They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." {14} At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. {15} "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." {16} Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). {17} Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" {18} Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally. This is the greatest news that mankind has ever heard or could possibly know. This is the one bit of news that truly turns our world upside down.
But – but even today – we are still like those first women and disciples. We in our world and society are frantically running around trying to find some hope. They are still searching for that something that will give their lives the spark that they are seeking. They are still looking for something in which they can place their hope in that will deliver – so that they can have that sense of peace and security that they know is needed in their lives. As a result, we find many this weekend off seeking to find God – or so they say – to find him in nature: to find him in an enjoyable long weekend. Hoping against hope that there they might find some happiness, or at least that they can shut out and escape from those terrible fears and insecurities in their life.
Even within the church many are still searching for our Lord; and don’t know where to find him. Sadly, for many of these people, Jesus has been taken away and put elsewhere. They have taken our Lord away and placed him in a distant heaven, absent from us his people. They tell us that he is not here – except in our thinking. They tell us that we need to find him and accept him. So the focus is placed on us, and not him – on what we must do; and all kinds of other things. Or else he is relegated to still lying in a tomb of empty religiosity; where the popular thinking is, ‘I have my faith so I can get on with life doing what I want.’ So we go through the motions – when we feel that we need it; and then hope that somehow God will help us out when we run into trouble.
Even we ourselves, from time to time, wonder about it all: we have our doubts and times of struggle: we ponder how seriously to take it all? There are those times when we look for God to be at work for us and to help us; and He does not seem be there. We don’t quite know where our Lord is or where we should be; or what in the church we need to take seriously; or which group and what thinking is right.
There is the temptation to hold Jesus at a distance: almost as if we don’t want a living active Lord in our lives. Because while he is out there, we don’t need to change our lives: we don’t need to be too committed: we can still live as we please, rather than as God would have us. The result is that we stay scared, lonely and unsure.
In all of these ways, we are like those first disciples looking for the dead rather than the living. We then, like those first women of Easter, are asked, ‘why are you crying?’ Why are you puzzled and wondering? Why are you searching? Who is it you are searching for?
For, “I am here” says Jesus – I have risen from dead. You can be sure that I am for real. And this is his message for us here today. He has been raised from the dead. He is alive. His death on the cross was for good reason; our forgiveness. God does accept us as his very own. Eternal life is now ours. We can believe it, and so trust that he is for us and with us: That he is important and active today and always.
Now we don’t need to search for him anymore. Nor doubt that he is alive and of utmost importance. We have the witness of Scripture over and over again. We have the witness of Mary, Peter and John. We have Thomas and many other disciples passing on this message. And these were those same people who only hours before were denying him, running scared and hiding away; and here initially were searching and doubting. But from this point onwards and especially after Pentecost, went forward boldly to proclaim him as the risen Lord. Even to the very people who had Jesus crucified: risking and even giving their lives up to do so: they now knew he was alive: he was who he said he was: God come to our aid; that through his death he has won forgiveness for us; and that salvation and eternal life is now ours.
On top of that, we need to remember Jesus’ very own words as well; where he said time and time again, that he would die and rise again three days later; and it happened just as he said. Then we have the words of the Old Testament which were written hundreds of years before Jesus even walked this earth. There too it was written, on many different occasions: all stating that our Saviour would die and that he would rise again; and that he would continue to be active amongst his people through the ages.
Also, Jesus has been living and active throughout the years since his death and resurrection. We have Pentecost and the spread of the Church throughout the world, and its continued growth even today, extremely rapidly in places like China, Africa and South America. So, just as it was written – he is not dead but has risen; he is alive and active, yesterday, today and forever. There is no need to search for him or to live as though is distant and unconcerned.
He is here with us today and every day in, with and under the ordinary things of life. He is with us every time his Word is spoken, through the Bible, preaching, an encouraging word of a fellow believer. He is here in church today and in every service. He is here in the bread and wine of Holy Communion; and in the waters of baptism: He is here in every loving action of his people: He is here in every needy person in our community. He is very much alive and active even in our history and our lives. Every good is a reminder that he is alive and here really with us and for us.
Today he is saying, [names]; I am here for you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. [names] I forgive you all your sins. [names] take and eat my body and blood given for you. [names] my blessing I give you. [names], I care for you and I am with you. To all of us, over and over again, he says, ‘I am here – I here with you and for you.’
Yes believe you me, Jesus is not dead – as he was not 2,000 years ago on that first Easter morning; so he is today. He is risen – he is risen indeed! He has risen, so that we can be sure that his death on the cross for our sins was for real, and that he truly is our Lord and saviour. Now we know that we are loved, saved and belong. Now we know who and what is important in life. Now we can live life with new joy and commitment. Now we can love – giving our all for the benefit of other, just as Jesus has done for us. Now we have a real hope – a lasting hope – one that endures into all eternity. All because our Lord has died for us and is now risen from dead.
This is Good News! This is amazing news! Too good to keep to ourselves: So like those early women and disciples, let us go from here knowing that Jesus is alive and with us – that he is for real: And let us share this good news with others. For he is risen! He is risen indeed! Our Lord Jesus has risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish
(John 20:1-18) 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, {11} but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb {12} and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. {13} They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." {14} At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. {15} "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." {16} Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). {17} Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" {18} Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally. This is the greatest news that mankind has ever heard or could possibly know. This is the one bit of news that truly turns our world upside down.
But – but even today – we are still like those first women and disciples. We in our world and society are frantically running around trying to find some hope. They are still searching for that something that will give their lives the spark that they are seeking. They are still looking for something in which they can place their hope in that will deliver – so that they can have that sense of peace and security that they know is needed in their lives. As a result, we find many this weekend off seeking to find God – or so they say – to find him in nature: to find him in an enjoyable long weekend. Hoping against hope that there they might find some happiness, or at least that they can shut out and escape from those terrible fears and insecurities in their life.
Even within the church many are still searching for our Lord; and don’t know where to find him. Sadly, for many of these people, Jesus has been taken away and put elsewhere. They have taken our Lord away and placed him in a distant heaven, absent from us his people. They tell us that he is not here – except in our thinking. They tell us that we need to find him and accept him. So the focus is placed on us, and not him – on what we must do; and all kinds of other things. Or else he is relegated to still lying in a tomb of empty religiosity; where the popular thinking is, ‘I have my faith so I can get on with life doing what I want.’ So we go through the motions – when we feel that we need it; and then hope that somehow God will help us out when we run into trouble.
Even we ourselves, from time to time, wonder about it all: we have our doubts and times of struggle: we ponder how seriously to take it all? There are those times when we look for God to be at work for us and to help us; and He does not seem be there. We don’t quite know where our Lord is or where we should be; or what in the church we need to take seriously; or which group and what thinking is right.
There is the temptation to hold Jesus at a distance: almost as if we don’t want a living active Lord in our lives. Because while he is out there, we don’t need to change our lives: we don’t need to be too committed: we can still live as we please, rather than as God would have us. The result is that we stay scared, lonely and unsure.
In all of these ways, we are like those first disciples looking for the dead rather than the living. We then, like those first women of Easter, are asked, ‘why are you crying?’ Why are you puzzled and wondering? Why are you searching? Who is it you are searching for?
For, “I am here” says Jesus – I have risen from dead. You can be sure that I am for real. And this is his message for us here today. He has been raised from the dead. He is alive. His death on the cross was for good reason; our forgiveness. God does accept us as his very own. Eternal life is now ours. We can believe it, and so trust that he is for us and with us: That he is important and active today and always.
Now we don’t need to search for him anymore. Nor doubt that he is alive and of utmost importance. We have the witness of Scripture over and over again. We have the witness of Mary, Peter and John. We have Thomas and many other disciples passing on this message. And these were those same people who only hours before were denying him, running scared and hiding away; and here initially were searching and doubting. But from this point onwards and especially after Pentecost, went forward boldly to proclaim him as the risen Lord. Even to the very people who had Jesus crucified: risking and even giving their lives up to do so: they now knew he was alive: he was who he said he was: God come to our aid; that through his death he has won forgiveness for us; and that salvation and eternal life is now ours.
On top of that, we need to remember Jesus’ very own words as well; where he said time and time again, that he would die and rise again three days later; and it happened just as he said. Then we have the words of the Old Testament which were written hundreds of years before Jesus even walked this earth. There too it was written, on many different occasions: all stating that our Saviour would die and that he would rise again; and that he would continue to be active amongst his people through the ages.
Also, Jesus has been living and active throughout the years since his death and resurrection. We have Pentecost and the spread of the Church throughout the world, and its continued growth even today, extremely rapidly in places like China, Africa and South America. So, just as it was written – he is not dead but has risen; he is alive and active, yesterday, today and forever. There is no need to search for him or to live as though is distant and unconcerned.
He is here with us today and every day in, with and under the ordinary things of life. He is with us every time his Word is spoken, through the Bible, preaching, an encouraging word of a fellow believer. He is here in church today and in every service. He is here in the bread and wine of Holy Communion; and in the waters of baptism: He is here in every loving action of his people: He is here in every needy person in our community. He is very much alive and active even in our history and our lives. Every good is a reminder that he is alive and here really with us and for us.
Today he is saying, [names]; I am here for you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. [names] I forgive you all your sins. [names] take and eat my body and blood given for you. [names] my blessing I give you. [names], I care for you and I am with you. To all of us, over and over again, he says, ‘I am here – I here with you and for you.’
Yes believe you me, Jesus is not dead – as he was not 2,000 years ago on that first Easter morning; so he is today. He is risen – he is risen indeed! He has risen, so that we can be sure that his death on the cross for our sins was for real, and that he truly is our Lord and saviour. Now we know that we are loved, saved and belong. Now we know who and what is important in life. Now we can live life with new joy and commitment. Now we can love – giving our all for the benefit of other, just as Jesus has done for us. Now we have a real hope – a lasting hope – one that endures into all eternity. All because our Lord has died for us and is now risen from dead.
This is Good News! This is amazing news! Too good to keep to ourselves: So like those early women and disciples, let us go from here knowing that Jesus is alive and with us – that he is for real: And let us share this good news with others. For he is risen! He is risen indeed! Our Lord Jesus has risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish
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