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Sermon – "All Things New" – John 20:1-18
Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021
Chris Coon, PBPC
John 20:1-18
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
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.
Saturday
Easter is such a bright and happy day, a day of celebrating life; but the joy of Resurrection Sunday comes on the heels of Crucifixion Friday and Despairing Saturday. The events of Friday were overwhelming in their shock, their horror, and their injustice. Jesus had been arrested under the cover of darkness, away from the crowds that followed him during the day and hung on his every word. Jesus was brought first before the high priest and accused of blasphemy, and then hauled before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and accused of sedition, of proclaiming himself king when the Romans would tolerate no competitors. Sentenced to death, he went through the ritual flogging and humiliation, before finally being paraded out, carrying his own cross, to Golgotha, the execution hill just outside the walls of Jerusalem. There he was publicly crucified, a prolonged, excruciating, and shameful execution, and an exhibition by the ruling powers of the fate of anyone who got in their way.
The disciples had been scattered; only John, the author of this gospel, seems to have been present at the crucifixion. They were in fear of their lives; their teacher was arrested and crucified – would they be next? But Saturday… this was day when everything sunk in. It was the sabbath, everything was quiet, and all they could do was to wait in their hiding places. Wait for what? Their teacher, the one they had finally come to recognize as the Messiah, was dead. Their hopes, plans, expectations were not only disappointed – they were crushed. What would they do now? This may have been the longest, darkest day of their lives.
The Painting
And then Sunday morning begins as what will, they assume, be another dark day. Peter and John are together, joined in their grief, when shortly after sunrise there is an urgent pounding at the door. Fear would be their initial response, but then they hear the voice of Mary Magdalene, another of Jesus' disciples. They let her in and hear from her a most disturbing account: she had gone early that morning to the tomb where Jesus' body had been laid. The large stone covering the entrance had been removed, and she assumed the worst – Jesus' body had been taken.
There is a painting called "Peter and John Running to the Tomb," painted by Eugene Burnand in 1898. It depicts the two disciples as they run to the tomb to see for themselves what has happened. It's a beautiful painting; but what is so memorable about it is the expressions in the eyes of the two men: in both, we sense that they have been weeping; John, the younger of the two, clasps his hands together and his eyes convey a sense of worry and continued sorrow; while Peter's care-worn face and haunting expression tell us that many thoughts are coursing through his mind.
Is it true? Is the body really gone? But who would do such a thing? What a terrible sacrilege, on top of all the humiliation Jesus had endured; couldn't they just let him rest in peace?
And yet… is it possible… that something has happened? Maybe at this point Jesus' words were coming back to Peter's mind – I am the resurrection and the life... Could Jesus be alive? They had seen him die. Could Jesus be more powerful than death itself? They had seen him raise Lazarus from the dead, but could Jesus rise again after his own death? Was it possible?
If it was true… that would change everything. That would be the vindication of Jesus, it would prove that everything he said about himself was true. If he rose from the dead, it would be God saying to the world, This is my son, the Messiah, the way, the truth, and the life.
But, if it was true… what would a resurrected Jesus be like? Could Peter face him, could he possibly stand in the presence of the risen Messiah? Peter, in his boldness, had promised to stand by Jesus' side no matter what; he had even violently opposed those who came to arrest Jesus. But once it was clear that Jesus would allow himself to be taken by the mob and be put to death, Peter's will had collapsed. He had given up hope that Jesus was anything more than a condemned man, and he had denied three times that he even knew him. How could Peter ever face the risen Jesus after such a loss of faith?
The Power of New Life
Yet, in spite of their fear and uncertainty, the two disciples run on to the tomb (there is more running in these verses than in all the rest of the gospels combined). John, the younger, arrives first and looks in; Peter, in typical fashion, blows right past him, entering the tomb. They see that it indeed is empty; but laying there on the stone shelf are the burial cloths, laid out in such a way that it appears that Jesus' body somehow passed right through them. Then verse 8 makes a profound statement: John says that he saw and believed, even though they did not understand what had happened.
What happened on that Easter morning defies explanation; in fact, we may be doing a disservice when we try to explain it with too much precision. Jesus had died and his lifeless body had been placed in a tomb which was then sealed. But neither the tomb nor death itself could contain him. Sin and violence and naked power had been outmatched; life triumphed over death. And now this new life of God was on the loose. Who could imagine what God would do next? The despair of the previous day was overturned, and hope was born again.
Peter and John didn't understand what had happened yet, and they certainly didn't comprehend the exact significance of it. But they knew their Jesus had won. Peter was willing to face him, but that is a story for another time; needless to say, it ends well, because Jesus is greater than our sins and our doubts our shortcomings and our failures. The risen Jesus has overcome all, and new life has burst forth into the world. Like the disciples, we don't fully understand the vast meaning of the resurrection, but like them, we can believe and trust that it changes everything.