Easter Sunday - I have seen the Lord!

Easter Sunday brings us to our final special edition of Facets of Faith as we bring song, prayer, and reflection to the scripture text of the day. During worship we will read from the gospel of Matthew, but Facets of Faith continues through the gospel of John as we reach the culmination of Holy Week celebrating Christ's resurrection. 

Music:
Jesus, Remember Me
Text: Luke 23:42 Taize Community
Music: Jacques Berthier (1923-1994)
Text and music copyright 1981 Les Presses de Taize. Admin GIA Publications, Inc  (Used under One License # A-724822)

We Remember
Text and Music: Marty Haugen (b. 1950) copyright 1980 GIA Publications, Inc (Used under One License # A-724822)

Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.

Scripture quotations from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Happy Easter. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. After a long week of following Jesus from his celebrated parade into Jerusalem, through intimate moments with friends, through heartbreaking betrayals and denials, and to the death, and after waiting in anticipation and uncertainty, we have arrived at the much anticipated story of the resurrection. I hope you will be joining a worshiping community this day to celebrate this joyous resurrection. But at St. John, we will be reading from the Gospel of Matthew during our Easter Sunday worship. And given that we've been following the Gospel of John for much of Lent through Holy Week on this podcast, I would like to offer a few notes about the unique approach that John takes to certain parts of this story.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

A reading from the Gospel of John the twentieth chapter, beginning at the first verse. Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, They have taken the Lord from the tomb. We don't know where they've put him. Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. Bending down to take a look, they saw the linen cloths lying there, but they didn't go in. Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. He also saw the facecloth that had been on Jesus' head. It was not with the other clothes, but was folded up in its own place. Then the other disciple, the one who arrived at the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. They didn't yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. Mary stood outside, near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, Woman, why are you crying? She replied, They have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have put him. As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for? Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabuni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet gone up to my father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, I am going up to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. Then she told them what he said to her. Here ends the reading. While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. If you will recall from previous conversations about lightness and darkness in the Gospel of John, when things happen at night, it is usually an indication of some level of uncertainty or doubt or lack of belief or disbelief. And so perhaps as Mary Magdalene is going to the tomb in the Gospel of John here, it's still dark. She is still in the midst of her grief, and she is going to the tomb to grieve. But even at the very beginning of this reading, we know that light is about to appear, dawn is about to break, because we hear that this night, this darkness, is early in the morning before the sun rises, but the sunrise is imminent. She reaches the tomb and sees that the stone had already been rolled away. She doesn't even look into it, she just knows that this is not what she expected to see. She perhaps expected to come and grieve at the tomb, for in John there is no conversation about how to roll the stone away. So she runs to tell Peter and the beloved disciple that something is amiss. And they run to the tomb in an almost comedic way, as if they're racing like a bunch of kids to try to get to the tomb. We even hear who gets there first. They see the empty tomb. They see the grave clothes lying there, but they don't know what to do with this. They don't know what to make of this, and so they return to where they were. In the Gospel of John, being a disciple, being a witness is not just about seeing the empty tomb. It is about then spreading this good news. It is about acting on the belief, acting on the experience of the divine. So we leave Peter and the beloved disciple in their silence, in their questioning, in whatever headspace they're in, and we return to Mary, and we see Mary crying. This crying gets repeated four times in these short verses of the Easter gospel reading. And this crying reminds us of the very human emotion that is in existence here. The crying reminds us of the deep and intense manifestations of humanity that permeate this entire gospel. The crying reminds us that for the incarnation to be real, for the incarnation to be taken seriously, it means that being human is real. Being human is taken seriously, and part of being human is crying and grieving when a friend dies. It doesn't say what Mary hopes to see when she ducks her head to look inside the tomb. But what she sees must have been surprising for her as she sees the two angels. She may not have even recognized them as angels in the moment, for she was crying at the loss of her friend and the uncertainty of what happened to his body. And then in the midst of her grief, Jesus, who she does not recognize at first, asks her, Who are you looking for? This is the third time that Jesus has asked this question. He asked it once when he called his disciples, though at that time he said, What are you looking for? He asked it again at his arrest as he asked the soldiers, Whom are you looking for? And now he asks it of Mary, Who are you looking for? And so Mary repeats her sentence again, stating that she came to grieve the death of her friend, but his body had been moved, and she doesn't know where it is, and so she does not know where to go to grieve. And Jesus says just one word Mary. He calls her by name, and in calling her by name, she recognizes Jesus. And again, we hear this theme of the way that Jesus' voice and hearing and recognizing Jesus' voice is a sign of relationship and discipleship. We think of the time when Jesus said that I am the good shepherd, and the sheep know my voice, and they hear my voice, and I will call them by name. We hear the story of Lazarus, as Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, but he only came out after Jesus called him by name. Jesus' response to Mary recognizing him seems a little out of sorts, as he says, Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet gone up to my Father. But here Jesus is not talking about the resurrection. Here, Jesus is already looking forward to the ascension, because resurrection means release from the grave, but ascension is the promise of the abiding relationship with God the Father, God the Creator. Jesus will spend 40 days on the earth with his friends again, and then he will ascend. And in the church we celebrate this ascension 40 days after Easter, though we often move it to a Sunday for worship. And so at St. John we will be celebrating the ascension of Jesus on the Sunday before Pentecost. And to remember the ascension is to remember that this unique expression of God, the incarnation of God, the word made flesh in this very particular human at this very particular time, cannot last forever. For Jesus will ascend to the Father and will be seated at the right hand of the Father in glory for now and forever. But right now we are still in the garden. We are still in the place of new creation. And in Mary recognizing Jesus, perhaps she is also made new as she lives in this new life of resurrection. And having experienced this recreation, this renewal, this resurrection, Mary runs to the disciples and proclaims, I have seen the Lord. And as Caroline Lewis says in her commentary in the Gospel of John, this first person statement is simultaneously an announcement about what Mary saw and a statement of belief in her promise of future life with Jesus and with God. The text doesn't say it, but there is no doubt in my mind that at this point in the story, day is here, the sun is shining, for Mary has seen the light of the world, Jesus Christ, her Savior and Lord. And so this Easter may you come to the empty tomb. May you hear Jesus call you by name into new life, into resurrection, and may you then go out and proclaim, I have seen the Lord. Let us pray. God of mercy, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ, and help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

And still we celebrate for you with us.