He is Risen! Now what?

3-27-16 (Easter Sunday Year C)

Isaiah 65:17-25; John 20:1-18

He is Risen! Now What?

In churches across the globe today, people share a very old traditional greeting with one another: "He is Risen!"  The response, of course, is "He is Risen, indeed!"  They're the words of Easter Morning, words that mark us as people of faith, that summarize the culmination of the entire Gospel.  They sum up the Easter events in three simple words.  The tomb is empty, the time for mourning and sadness is past.  This is the moment we've been leading up to for the last forty six days as we've journeyed together through Lent and the Holy Week.  We've shared the experience of Jesus' triumphal entrance into Jerusalem.  We've eaten the Passover meal together at his side.  We've heard and read his Passion story, following him to the hill and the cross, sharing in his pain and suffering.  And now we are encountered with his resurrection; we're encouraged to step into the empty tomb for ourselves, to see the folded linens, to stand beside the disciples in awe and wonder at this amazing discovery.

It's an encounter that alters our very reality.  Forty six days is nowhere near enough time to "prepare" for it, because the truth is - we can never be prepared for a moment that literally changes life as we know it.  Isaiah's words attempt to prepare us as God announces the dramatic way in which God will re-shape the world - they speak of a transformation so intense that "the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind."  They promise a world where even the sound of weeping or cries of distress will no longer exist; a world where wolves and lambs eat together, where lions eat straw, where God's people live lives of blessedness and purpose.  They promise a world in which God actively participates, where God rejoices with Jerusalem.

That's the world that was introduced in Jesus Christ - because in Jesus Christ, God was literally participating in the world.  Through Jesus Christ, God healed the sick, cast out demons, mended the broken, forgave people of their sins, and even rescued them from death itself.  And throughout his entire mission, Jesus' message was consistent and clear: the Kingdom of God is here.  God is no longer about to do something; we no longer have to wait on the promises of God through the prophets.  The kingdom is here.  It is now.  The Easter Resurrection cements that reality and truly fulfills that statement of the now-ness of the Kingdom.  In the Resurrection of Christ, God truly has done a new thing and brought about a new creation - sin and death no longer rule this world.  The grave is no longer the end of the story, but only the beginning.  So when we look at the empty tomb and set our eyes upon the Risen Christ, we can see the promise of the future, of our own resurrection in Christ, and of the eternal life in the Kingdom that has been ushered in and will eventually be completed when Christ returns.

But we need to let John's Gospel give us a reality check at the same time - the empty tomb is not the true culmination of the Gospel story!  It is the fulfillment of all the promises of the Old Testament and the new promise of what is yet to come, but it goes beyond just trading one promise for another.  The empty tomb is, by itself, still nothing but a mystery to us.  We may set our eyes upon it, but not yet understand it - such a miracle strains belief.  It's easy for us to echo Mary's sentiments and be dismayed, to run to the other disciples and to cry out in our anguish that "They have taken The Lord out of the tomb" and not know where He has been taken.  If we only see the empty tomb, we can only be left with bewilderment.  The tomb is empty, but our Lord is still dead.  The world is still a place of pain, of suffering, and of grief.  We're no better than we were on Good Friday as we stood on the hill and watched the Christ as he breathed his last.  That's what Peter and the other disciple encounter when they see the linen wrappings, the stone rolled away, and nothing else.  That's why they return home.  And that's why Mary continues to weep.  That's why, even in the presence of angels, Mary still thinks her Lord is gone and doesn't know where he has been taken.

How blessed we are, then, that the story doesn't end with the empty tomb, but continues with the resurrected Christ!  In the midst of Mary's tears and consternation, she turns away from the tomb and Jesus is there.  Maybe she's still blinded by her grief, maybe she's still shocked at the tomb being empty, maybe the reality of the risen Christ is so shocking and different that we cannot recognize it on our own - but Mary doesn't recognize Jesus for who he is.  She thinks that it's the gardener who asks her why she is weeping, for whom she is looking.  She confronts him - "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away."

We might expect some kind of Hollywood-fueled "recognition scene" at this point in the story; Jesus smiles a particular way, she sees the distinguishing dimple in his cheeks, or a halo around his head that marks him for who he truly is.  But something else even more miraculous happens: Jesus calls her by name.  When I imagine it, he's smiling, perhaps even laughing a little as he says "Mary."  He sees humor in her lack of recognition, but I imagine he's also full to the brim with the joy that has come with this Easter event.  Regardless of how he says her name, it's in that declaration, that voice of familiarity, that Mary finally recognizes Jesus for who he is.  She exults at the revelation - she turns to him, perhaps even rushes to him to embrace him.  She exclaims "Rabbouni!" with her recognition.  And Jesus keeps her on task - it's not the time for distraction, for lingering embraces and awe-struck staring; there's still work to be done.  Jesus has not ascended to Heaven yet and the disciples still don't know what has happened.  The story has not concluded; it is still unfolding.  And it's up to Mary to deliver that glorious message to the disciples.

What an amazing task it is that Mary is given!  What a message to be entrusted with - and to Jesus' own disciples, no less.  Gifted with the knowledge that Jesus is Risen, she goes out to spread that good news.  Jesus calls Mary by name to rise out of her grief, to turn away from her confusion and loss, and to take the good news of the resurrection to the disciples.  If nothing else, the resurrection narrative is at its heart a story of being commissioned, of being sent out and tasked with good news to tell to others. And we are called to do the same today! Jesus calls us by name, the same as he called Mary - he calls us to turn away from all those things to which we would rather cling, to lay them aside for the joy of Easter morning, and to take that news out to the rest of the world: death is not the last word.  "He is Risen!"  Now to the One who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.   Amen.