Whoop, There He Is: John 20:19-23

This week as I tried to write this sermon, I found that I struggled to get words onto paper.  I struggled to keep my chin up and work through the normal everyday obstacles that came along my path. What’s worse I had already forgotten what I had heard God say to me through His Word last week about, His great sacrifice, and what he had done for me. 

It hit me later in the week that this struggle is not something that I am alone in. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to be a common problem for many of us in the weeks following the celebration of our risen Lord. We get down on life, we feel our burdens creeping up on us and we tend to forget the good news of Jesus’ resurrection . The reason it hit me so profoundly was because it is the exact same thing that happened to the disciples on that very first Easter, the day that our Lord and Saviour had been raised from the dead. 

Mary Magdalene after Jesus had called her by name and had revealed himself to her, ran back to the place where the disciples were staying and told them exactly what Jesus had said to her, that ‘He was ascending to His Father and their Father, to His God and their God.’ What amazing news she was given to proclaim to them, but how quickly and easily their joy from the news had turned to dread. They did not yet trust Jesus or His resurrection, they doubted him, so they feared the Jewish authorities and bolted all the doors of the house. 

It has now been seven days since you heard, that Jesus is Alive, That He is Risen Indeed. And today I want to ask you: Have you doubted your Lord Jesus Christ? Have you doubted his resurrection and the promises which these bring? Have you let your worries bolt the doors, trying to keep everyone out, Keeping Jesus Out?

Let me just say if this is the case with you, don’t worry, Bolts can’t keep our Lord the risen saviour Jesus Christ out, not even the doors of death could do that. Jesus came on that very first Easter, pass the bolted door that the disciples had barricaded themselves behind, the doors which prevented anyone coming in or going out. They were in that house full of fear, just waiting for the Jewish leaders to arrive, arrest, beat and kill them. Then whoop, there He is. Jesus Christ appears to the disciples in the middle of their house. 

I wonder what the reaction would be if Jesus appeared in church next time you went??? 

When Christ came to His disciples the words that He said were “Peace be with you”. We receive this peace after receiving forgiveness in His name... We acknowledged Christ being present with us at the beginning of the service whenever we start in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit... And most importantly we receive his presence in Holy Communion every time we eat and drink of His body and blood.  Jesus the risen saviour appears in His church, every single sunday. Where ever your sins are forgiven. Where ever God’s name is declared and His Word is proclaimed in purity and truth. Christ is there in that place. And in that place you receive His peace.

So what is our reaction to Christ appearing to us? Is it to do as Christ has said to do after he gave his peace to the disciples??? Jesus says:  “Just as the Father sent me, I send you”.

We receive the peace of God every time you go to church, you pray to God for His strength and you go out into the world that God has placed you. You go back to our job, or our study, and to your friends and family, with the peace of God. But what does this mean practically? It means that because you have the assurance of God’s peace you can live a life reflecting the peace of Christ. 

We hear on the news stories of chaos, of earthquakes, fires, floods, and storms. I even know that many people watched in wait on friday night for some disaster to rock the royal wedding. The world we live in and the people who surround us do not hear or feel peace. But this is exactly what they need. They yearn for God’s peace. And you are the only ones equipped to bring that peace into the lives of those around you. 

Jesus said to his disciples:Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. What a responsibility Jesus gives us. Now that we have received the peace of God. Now that we have had our sins forgiven. Now that he has revealed himself to us through Holy Communion. We are called to do the same. The Father sent the Son to die for us, to be a sacrifice for all our sin. And Jesus says to us, “Just as the Father sent me, I am sending you”. Jesus isn’t sending us into an easy cushy world, he is sending us into the same world He is in. A world that hates truth and loves lies, A world that is alive in sin but dead to life. A world that is in chaos because of sin but yearns for true peace.

If this seems a bit daunting to you don’t worry. Christ does not send you out into the world alone. He gives you the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who is Truth, the Spirit who is Strength, the Spirit who points the way to Jesus Christ. And whats more He sends you out, not as you were when you came here this morning, but with His peace. Remember the peace of the Lord you received after your sins were forgiven, remember the peace you receive each time you partake of the Lord’s supper. Remember the peace you receive when you receive the blessing at the end of the service. These are constant and true reminders of Christ’s resurrection and they help remove all doubt.   

We are not living in a world that needs to be shown that it is in shambles, we look at the news and we see it every night. We live in a world that has no peace. The world we live in does not know that Jesus Christ, the living Son of God, came down from heaven and was born of the virgin Mary, that he suffered, that he died on the cross and was buried. They don’t know that Christ arose from the grave for the sake of the whole world, that all people might be saved. 

My friend, this is your charge, that you love your neighbour as Christ loved you. That you speak of God’s forgiveness and grace to all those who will hear it. That you receive the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you where and when he wills. And that you live in the peace that Jesus Christ speaks to you at your church, in His forgiveness, in His body and blood, in His Word and in His blessing.

And may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Our Risen Saviour. Amen

He is Risen: Sermon John 20:1-18

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and His Son our Risen Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen

Today let me take you on a journey through the eyes of three of Jesus‘ disciples on Easter morning. Let me guide you through the Gospel message using the experiences of Mary Magdalene, and the apostles John and Peter. Listen to the words and feelings of those three who give their account of our risen saviour. Between each character of this meditation, allow yourself sometime to reflect on the disciples words and thoughts. 

Mary Magdalene 

It is early, very early. All is still dark, there is no light... The morning is fresh and crisp and the fog is thick and is moistening your face and your clothes. You don’t notice the moisture nor the cold. You are numb, every part of you is numb. 3 days ago, your teacher died. And now you are alone, walking in the cold, towards the tomb in which His Body lies. 

You know this is the last day to be around His presence, Jewish tradition has taught you that a persons spirit is near the body until the third day. You want to be near your teacher, for as long as you can. You don’t want to let go of him. How can you? You have thought for these last few years that this man was special, you even thought that he was the promised one of God, you have seen the miracles he has performed for those around you, and you yourself had your demons cast out by his hand. Yes this man was someone special, he was killed, he was murdered on a cross, yet all that he wanted to do was help. 

As you walk closer and closer toward the tomb, all is silent, not even the birds have woken, you still feel all alone... mourning the loss of your teacher. You think of what is going to happen now that Jesus is gone? What will you do? Where will you go? What should you do with your life now that your purpose is gone? Is there any point to your life? What on earth are you here for? 

You arrive at the tomb, the place where 3 days ago you left your teacher. But when you arrive you see that the stone that was covering the entrance has been moved. A million things run through your head... Who has taken my teachers body? Why would anyone do this? What did he do to deserve being treated this way, that even in death he is mocked by disturbing his resting place and removing his body? 

You run, You run as hard as you can... You don’t know exactly where you are going. All is still, all is quiet, it is dark and your mood is reflecting the darkness of the night. Who will you wake, who will you tell? Who can help you see in this darkness? 

Still running, you decide to go to John for he was the one who Jesus loved, you also tell Peter who is with John. You run to the door and you knock, and you knock and you knock... Finally John arrives at the door, still tired but rapidly waking up, Peter also arrives so you say to them “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him”. 

Peter and John run off, you follow them, you are too exhausted to run so you walk, and all the while you think of the things Jesus taught you and his disciples while he was teaching throughout the land... 

John

You wake up. There is a loud, hurried and almost panicky knock at your front door. It is still early, the birds have only just woken up and the sun has only just begun to rise over the horizon. You wonder, who could this be at this time of the morning. You hope that it’s not the soldiers trying to round up all those who followed Jesus. He did only just die...

You put on your clothes and open the door. It’s Mary Magdalene. She is looking like she has had no sleep and has been crying for a long while. There is dust on her face that has turned to mud on her cheeks  and her hair is all messed up. She has been running and is out of breath. You invite her in but she refuses. She is past consoling, through her tears she lets you and Peter know what she saw when she went to the tomb in the darkness of the morning. 

You run. You run faster than you have ever run in your life. You need to be at the tomb. You need to see for your self what has happened to your best friend’s body. You need to know if there is any way Mary had been fooled. You wonder the same things that you have been wondering for the last three days. What will you do now that Christ has died? What will you do when the authorities come for you as well? Why did he die... wasn’t he the Son of God?

You arrive at the tomb before Peter... Despite the coolness of the morning you are covered with sweat, not just because you just ran all the way to the tomb, but because of your worry. You have felt the feeling of darkness closing in. Your worries burden you, and the one you thought could get rid of them is gone. 

You bend down and look in the tomb. You see the linen cloths lying there where the body of Jesus had been laid. As you finish looking in and you ponder all the things Jesus has said, Peter arrives and goes into the tomb... Leaving you to your thoughts about how Jesus had shown his love to you and all that knew him.

Peter

You are running, you are running so hard that it hurts. You have a stitch but you don’t dare stop. It’s not to hard too ignore your physical pain because the pain of guilt is so much stronger. As you are running all you can think about is how you denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, just as Jesus had said you would... The guilt is almost too much to bear... But you must keep going, you must help find Jesus the one whom you called the Messiah, the living son of God. You think to your self, was I wrong in thinking that He was the saviour of the world? How could he have died? He was meant to save our people from the Romans, yet here I am and he is dead...

You arrive at the tomb, John is already at the entrance, he looks like he is deep in thought. You know you must go inside to inspect, for that is what you do, you get in there and try to sort out what’s going on. You push past John and go to the place where Jesus had been laid, He is not there, the tomb is empty. All that is left are the cloths that had been wrapped around his body. They are still covered with his blood. You notice also that the head cloth is still in the tomb. It is folded up and placed where Jesus’ head had been laid to rest on Friday evening. 

You wonder to yourself why was this cloth folded up. Surely a robber wouldn’t have wasted time in folding up the linen cloths... You can’t work out what is going on, all you know is that Jesus has died, and he is now no longer lying where he was laid. John arrives at your side, he has a knowing look on his face. You can’t work out what it means, but it doesn’t really matter at this stage. You are grieved at the loss of your saviour, and now you and John go back home thinking about the sayings of Jesus and of all that he had done for you. 

Mary Magdalene

You arrive back at the tomb, you see Peter and John inside but you do not go in. You are too grieved even to think. Tears are pouring out your eyes and you are thinking that all is lost. Peter and John come out of the tomb, Peter looks down and lonely, John is looking somewhat at peace. You gather your thoughts and your feelings, you need to be strong, you want to catch one last glimpse of the place where Jesus had been lying 

You lean down to look inside, then stand up again. You take a second look, You can not believe your eyes. Two angels. There is one where Jesus’ head had lay and one where his feet had been. They are both dressed in a white like you have never seen before. They say: Woman, why are you weeping? You answer: “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him”. You turn away from the angels hardly able to believe your eyes. You walk up from the tomb entrance. As you walk from the tomb you see a man, you think to yourself, this must be the gardener. He comes over to you and says, “Woman, why are you weeping, Whom are you seeking?” You say to the man: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have taken him and I will take him away”. The man looks at you, with eyes that are warm and accepting, and says your name. He says Mary...

You turn, you can now see who this man is, it is Jesus himself... You cry out to him “Teacher” and run over to him to hug him, to greet him as you have done so many times before. But he tells you not to cling to him, for he hasn’t ascended to the Father yet, he tells you also to go to His brothers, the other disciples and to tell them: “I am ascending to My Father and to their Father. To My God and their God. 

You start the journey home, thinking about every thing that has happened and about that crazy last week. It all makes sense now, all the things Jesus had said; that he must die. 

You remember Jesus saying that unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. You suddenly realise that Jesus was talking about himself. That He must die to bring life to many. You realise that Jesus dying on the cross was not him losing, he didn’t come even close to losing. In fact he died and was buried for exactly the opposite reason. He died to bring life, He died to save us from death.

You also remember the word Jesus spoke only a week ago. That Jesus came into the world as light, so that whoever believes in him may not remain in darkness. The darkness which you felt this morning was only a glimmer of the darkness that was yesterday, Jesus the light of the world has come back from the dead. His light has shone on your darkness, it has shown you your sin, your lack of faith and removed it, he has filled those places where the darkness was, with His light. 

This is a day you will not forget for as long as you live. It is the day that Jesus the risen saviour has called you by your name and you have seen Him and you have recognized Him. You walk now with a spring in your step as you hurry to tell the disciples all that Jesus told you. You spend the remainder of the walk turning over the truths Jesus has taught you.

He is Risen

He is Risen Indeed.

The story of the resurrection is one that most of us have heard many times. But don’t we at times take its brilliance for granted? The death of Christ was not pretty, the walk of Mary was not peaceful, nor was the hopeless run of Peter and John an experience that any of us could begin to fathom. But in contrast with the gore of death by crucifixion, with the hopeless running towards a dead end goal, and with the stress of finding an empty tomb we have the resurrection of Christ’s body, which was broken for you, so that you may have life. This is amazingly good news. Death tried to take our Lord on but it couldn’t. Our Lord the giver of life took on death and conquered it. Death could not contain Him and because of His death and resurrection we who believe in Christ Jesus have no need to fear death. Death has no power over us, for we have the promise of eternal life. Not because we are better than others, not because we deserve it more than them, Not because He loves us more than them. We do not fear death because God our Heavenly Father has called us to be part of His Family. We became part of God’s Family at our baptisms when we died to our old sinful selves and rose with Christ Jesus in His resurrection.

He is Risen.

He is risen indeed.

And may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

Amen.