Our
long journey through the Easter story, Hosannas and foot washing, arrest and
trial, humiliation and death, ends for the disciples with Jesus body being
placed in a tomb.
Mary
went to the tomb on Sunday morning, John doesn’t tell us why.
She
finds the tomb empty and goes to tell the others. Notice in her conversation
with the two disciples, ‘angels’ and ‘the gardener’, Mary shows no indication
that she thinks Jesus has been raised from death, she says: They have
taken the Lord from the tomb.
Mary
thinks the body of Jesus has been stolen.
What
if it had been?
Would
it matter if there was an empty tomb, but no encounters with the risen Jesus?
What
would Christianity look like without resurrection?
I
suspect it would have finished with a group of frightened disciples in the
upper room, hiding from the authorities.
The
religious and political leaders would have been right, you kill the leader, the
whole thing falls down like a house of cards.
Resurrection
means more than an empty tomb about 2000 years ago.
We
can hear this story, and all the Easter story, and hear it as a historical
drama.
Does
this story have anything to say to us today?
Does
this event have any impact on our living?
We live in a world where there is
still death and despair, oppression and slavery.
We live in a world where there is still violence and betrayal.
There is still unrest in the Middle East, and it looks like we are walking into another Cold War.
We live in a world where millions of people are displaced or seeking refuge.
We live in a world where there is still violence and betrayal.
There is still unrest in the Middle East, and it looks like we are walking into another Cold War.
We live in a world where millions of people are displaced or seeking refuge.
Closer to home, about one woman each
week dies at the hands of their partner, or ex-partner;
There is still a gap between the health and education outcomes for our indigenous brothers and sisters and other Australians.
There is still a gap between the health and education outcomes for our indigenous brothers and sisters and other Australians.
We live in a world where money speaks
We live in a world where violence and retaliation are seen as the answer We live in a world where children die from lack of food
We live in a world where violence and retaliation are seen as the answer We live in a world where children die from lack of food
What does resurrection have to say in
this world,
in this world of hunger and greed and violence?
in this world of hunger and greed and violence?
…….
Who are you looking for?
This is the question Jesus asked the
guards as they came into the garden to arrest him: Who are
you looking for?
It is the same question Jesus asks
Mary at the tomb: Who are you looking for?
Mary hopes this man has some information
for her, but when he says her name: Mary, life changed.
Mary knows it is Jesus.
She was looking for the body of Jesus,
and now she has been found by the risen Lord.
Can you remember a time when you
realised you were known, and loved?
Maybe Jesus looking like a gardener, is
a link between this new creation with the first creation?[i]
Resurrection offers us new life. Not
the same life over again, but a new way of living. A way of living defined by
love, sacrifice, humility, liberation and forgiveness.
We don’t have to justify our existence
or prove ourselves. God loves us.
………….
Maybe the answer to hunger and greed and
violence, is relationship.
Relationship with each other and
relationship with Jesus.
From my experience the answer to the question:
Who are you looking for?
Is often ourselves, our true self, known and loved by God;
not the persona we hide behind, so we don’t get hurt by the power plays of the world.
Is often ourselves, our true self, known and loved by God;
not the persona we hide behind, so we don’t get hurt by the power plays of the world.
Who are you looking for?
Is it your true self? Come
and be found in the love and grace of Jesus.
Who are you looking for?
Come to the one who knows you and
calls you by name
the one who forgives you and offers you peace
the one who takes away your sin
the one who thinks you are an amazing person,
the one who heals the pain of broken relationships and betrayal
the one who offers you new life.
the one who forgives you and offers you peace
the one who takes away your sin
the one who thinks you are an amazing person,
the one who heals the pain of broken relationships and betrayal
the one who offers you new life.
Come to the one who seeks
you.
And then live out the resurrection
life
By loving and forgiving
encouraging
seeking justice and reconciliation
living out the new life you are offered in Christ
so that others might also have life and food and peace.
encouraging
seeking justice and reconciliation
living out the new life you are offered in Christ
so that others might also have life and food and peace.
This Easter I encourage you to think
about your experience of resurrection, the ways in which Jesus has and is
transforming your life.
[i]
Working Preacher podcast, https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_podcast.aspx?podcast_id=1001
