Resurrection Sunday 2024: From Mourning to Mission

Join us as we examine John’s account of the resurrection and consider the significance of the empty tomb and the pivotal change it brings for the people of God.

Consider these questions as you listen to this week’s message from John 20:1-18:

1. How do the emotions and actions of Mary Magdalene and the disciples before recognizing Jesus’ resurrection illustrate the depth of transformation experienced upon realizing the truth of the resurrection?

2. Considering John’s belief but lack of understanding upon seeing the empty tomb, how does this reflect the journey of faith and understanding in the Christian life?

3. What significance does Jesus' command to Mary Magdalene not to cling to Him but to go and share the news of His resurrection hold for the mission and witness of believers today?

Transcript:

Easter is unexpected. The resurrection is unexpected. The truth of what we celebrate this morning, what we remember, it's familiar to us and so I think we struggle to fully wrap our minds around how extraordinary the story is. Story is. But put yourself in the story and as you do this, you can see just how amazing the resurrection is. Because the hopes that the followers of Jesus had for who he was and who he was going to be, they were dashed. As he was hanging on the cross and he cried out and breathed his last, the belief that he was going to sit on a cold slab in a tomb, his lifeless body there, and as the stone was rolled in front of the tomb, you can imagine that the grief of the followers of Jesus probably reached its peak. It was over the hopes that they had for who Jesus was, it was all done, but little did they know that they would go from mourning the loss of a friend and rabbi to having a mission where they would be serving a risen and ascended Savior.

This idea comes through in this passage that we read from in John this morning. So let's line out where we're going and then get into this passage. Today, the first thing that we're going to see and it's going to be the majority of where we spend our time thinking is the significance of the empty tomb. The reason that we gather as the people of God, not just on Easter but on every Sunday, is because of the fact of the empty tomb. It is an earth-shattering reality. Secondly, we see the recognition of Jesus by Mary at the voice of Jesus, and he says that she is not to cling to his earthly frame. So there is more to the resurrection, then, than an extended earthly existence for Jesus. There's something more that is on the horizon. And third, we see the call to leave from the garden and spread the message of the resurrection. Mary is not to remain and dwell on the resurrection there with Jesus. She has a mission and that's to spread this story, this truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we come to John's telling of this morning of the resurrection, and we read of Mary Magdalene being an early riser who gets to the tomb while it's still dark, to the tomb, while it's still dark, and she sees there that the stone, the stone that was blocking the entrance to the tomb it's been removed. Now this is not at all what she expected to find. And so we see that she runs back to tell Simon, peter and the apostle John and we know it's John. It doesn't say that it's John here, but at this time in literature you wouldn't put your own name as you were writing as the author, so you came up with other ways to say who you were. And for John, in his gospel, he designates himself as the other apostle, the one who Jesus loved. And so we see the message that Mary brings to John and Peter is that they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they've laid him. And of course this is what she's going to tell them. They weren't expecting resurrection.

And we know from other accounts of this morning in the other gospels, we know that Mary wasn't alone at the tomb and notice that while John doesn't mention directly that there were other people with her, mary says here we, so none of these other women who went to the tomb that morning were expecting that he was going to rise from the dead either, even though Jesus had told them that he was going to do so. He mentioned that this was going to happen and, like I said, of course they missed it. Of course they didn't think this was going to happen, because every one of us, if you've been in the presence of someone who has died and they have breathed their last, you don't sit there expecting another gasp of air and that they will come back alive. You just don't. It's not what we do. We know what death is. Instead of expecting a revival or a resurrection, we grieve, and we grieve deeply, because we know that our loved one is gone. This is what we expect, and this is not only why the women told John and Peter that the body was taken, but it's why the people who heard Jesus say that he was going to rise from the dead didn't believe him. It's unexpected, it's impossible.

Death is death, and we see in the following few verses that the two men raced to see the garden tomb for themselves, and what they saw was something that they were forced to deal with. Jesus isn't there. The cloths had been laid there, they were gone from where they were supposed to be, and then the face cloth had actually been folded up, not something anyone who would have stolen the body would have done, right? There's some order to this. This seems like it was purposeful, right? And we see John's reaction here as he gets to the tomb he saw and believed. And we see John's reaction here as he gets to the tomb he saw and believed.

But as you see, in the next sentence, something a little bit confusing comes from John. Here he says he did not yet understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead, and this seems like two different ideas. Right, that he believed, but he didn't understand. Now there's different ideas of what this exactly means. But really, in the context here of what we're looking at, the best explanation of this is that John believed that Jesus had risen, but he didn't understand why. Why? Maybe he just couldn't get past the expectations that he had for the Messiah, of what he believed the Messiah was supposed to do. Maybe that's what happened. Maybe that's what he was thinking, but we do know for sure. When he came to understand that the Messiah had a purpose to conquer sin, death and hell that understanding is what became, what directed the rest of his life. It changed his life. It's what he talked about. It's what he preached, to the point of suffering persecution for this message, and so that helps us to understand something important.

This unexpected event is the pivotal moment of history Because until early that morning, death reigned. Death reigned, and as we read in Isaiah, chapter 25, death was the covering that was cast over all peoples. It was the veil spread over all nations. It was the curse. It was the curse that the world was plunged into by the rebellion of our first parents in the garden. But that morning, the rebellion of our first parents in the garden. But that morning, this prophecy of Isaiah came to pass. When Jesus got up from that cold slab of stone, he swallowed up death forever and he took away the reproach of his people.

So, as we see here in 1 Corinthians 15, the statement can be made where, oh death, is your victory? Where is your sting? The Lord Jesus has triumphed over the grave, and this is why we celebrate Easter. This is why this is the pivotal moment of history, because if they go to that tomb that morning and they put spices on the corpse of Jesus, there's no story to tell, there's no story at all, and the covering over all people's remains. But because Jesus bore the wrath of God on Friday and walked out of the grave on Sunday. There is hope. There is hope for those who will be united to Christ in his life, death, resurrection and ascension.

The empty grave matters, and it's not just a fable told to make a point of having to have hope or something like that. That's not what this is about. This isn't about some spiritual truth that Jesus resurrected. No, he resurrected. We're not talking about a hope of some unknown realm out there somewhere spiritually. We're talking about a physical resurrection. We remember today a historical event where god, the son, walked out of the grave in a resurrected physical body and he is at this moment ascended to the right hand of the Father in that same body, interceding for you. This is the Christian hope, this is the gospel the body that took on the wrath of God for you on Friday, resurrected on Sunday and ascended 40 days later. And this call, then, on us is to repent and believe this good news that we might walk in newness of life, united to him, living in hope that the shadow over all people death, has been defeated.

This is the significance of the empty tomb and as the story continues, of the empty tomb and as the story continues, we see that Mary sees that the tomb is not merely empty, but she personally experiences the risen Christ. So in verse 10, we see that the disciples went back to their homes. They went back to their homes. That seems a little bit odd to me. Your master and rabbi is no longer in his tomb and so you go home. You know, john says that he believed something, but he didn't understand what it meant. Okay, I get it, but they went back to their homes, of all things. But at the end of the day, what do you do? Does anybody know of a standard operating procedure for when someone is raised from the dead, like, what do you do? It's what Peter and John did, but I think the actions of Mary are more in line with what I think maybe you and I would do.

It's only been a few days since Jesus was on the cross and died. You know, she would have been weeping still about the loss of Jesus, overwhelmed by the events of the past week. Even if she would have stayed home that morning, she would probably, maybe still be crying at home, right, but? But now the body is missing. She was probably to the point of thinking what's next? What else can possibly happen? There's no way this possibly could have possibly gotten any worse, and now it has, and so she's weeping. But as she does so, she looks into the tomb and we see that two angels ask her why she's weeping, and once again, the response of Mary is the natural response, and it reminds us that the resurrection is not at all what she was expecting, because she thinks that someone has taken the body.

And as we progress through the passage here, we see her turn away from this conversation that she's having with angels. And if you're like me, you're confused by this as well. You have two angels in front of you, but yet you turn away. Now I wonder why she isn't amazed at the angels and why she doesn't strike up a conversation with them. But at the same time, I sort of get it. She doesn't strike up a conversation with them, but at the same time, I sort of get it. When you're weeping, when you're in distress, when you're filled with grief, you can do a whole lot of things, and you probably aren't even thinking about this, even if they would have told you that he's risen in this way right here. It's not what you expect, it's not on your radar at all. And in fact we see in these verses that the risen Jesus is right in front of her and she misses it. Her eyes are filled with tears. He even speaks to her, asking her the same basic question the angels asked.

And we see that her assumption is a natural one, right? She assumes that the one that she is talking to is the gardener, and she just wants to know where the body is. She wants all of this to be done. She wants to take care of it. In fact, she's willing to take care of it herself. We see that she's willing to take Jesus away and care for the body on her own. It seems that Mary just wants this nightmare to be over. She wants her increasing and escalating grief to come to an end.

But then we see that Jesus speaks her name and everything changes right as soon as she hears her name. She knows that this is Jesus. She never expected resurrection. She knew he was dead. She knew his corpse was supposed to be in the tomb. She was there to put spices on his dead body, and this was to mask the odor of what was supposed to be happening in that tomb. His body is supposed to be decaying, not standing in front of her. It's Jesus. Her friend and teacher is alive, and Jesus has something interesting to say to her. Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. And that's an unexpected statement. You know, she thought he was dead. He isn't. Hey, jesus, let's hang out and talk.

And the point here is that the resurrection isn't about giving Jesus more earthly life so they can do all the things that they didn't get in before Friday. That's not the point of the resurrection, and it isn't about the wishes of all these people who want an earthly king who's going to have conquest over the Romans either. It's about his ascension. The news is better than she can imagine. It isn't just that her friend is alive, but that her teacher is now her savior. He has conquered sin and death and he is going to ascend to his heavenly throne at the right hand of the Father. This isn't like Lazarus, who a few weeks prior was resurrected but he's going to die again.

Jesus is alive and he is alive forevermore. He is God, the Son, victorious over the grave. He came to earth with a mission and the mission wasn't earthly conquest. Came to earth with a mission and the mission wasn't earthly conquest, because the regimes of man, they rise and they fall, but the kingdom of heaven is eternal and it has an eternal king. Jesus had a mission and as we close up the passage we see that Mary has a mission, and from this we see our mission as well. Now she has heard the voice of Jesus, she has experienced her risen Lord, and Jesus has told her that there is more to this than just having more time with him on earth. Now she is to go and spread the message that the tomb is empty, not because the Romans moved in to mess with his followers to get rid of the body, and not because the religious leaders wanted to mess with the disciples of Jesus either. The tomb is empty because he has risen and he is ascending to the Father. And part of me wonders how hard this was for Mary. Imagine the range of emotions that she has to have here and then not knowing when or if she will ever see Jesus again. But still she goes. She is on the mission that Jesus gives her. She passes on the good news of the resurrection of Jesus, and Mary.

Here is an example to us of the right response to the gospel. When we hear this good news. We are not to keep the message to ourselves and cling to it on our own. We are called to depart and proclaim he is risen and, as we have seen, this is the message of the victory over the grave. It's a message that saves us. It's the message that frames all of history. These fragile frames of ours are going to fail because of the curse. There will be weeping in times of loss. In fact, you might be plagued at this moment of your life with mourning and with grief, but we have the promise of the Gospel that, though there is grief, there is joy in the morning.

The truth of the Gospel reminds us that because Jesus came out of His grave, we shall come up from ours. May we proclaim that good news that others may hear and believe, for faith comes by hearing. Like Mary, we are called to go from morning to mission. This is the means that God has ordained that the gospel comes to our ears and the Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts to believe this message. So, like Mary, may we tell of the risen Jesus to our children, to our friends and to all that the Lord puts in our path that he is risen and he is victorious over the grave. Victorious over the grave.

And as we proclaim that message, may we also remember where Jesus is right now. He is ascended, he is king. In just a few moments we will hear or we will sing together the Hallelujah Chorus, and maybe the most powerful moment of that song is where the volume is brought low and we hear these words the kingdom of this world has become and then we crank the volume to 11, right has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. So may we remember and proclaim that good news, that Jesus is king and his reign will have no end. He is victorious over the grave and he is Lord of all. Hear and believe the gospel and bow before the One who is King. Amen.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for the gift of your Word, for we know that in it we hear this story of how you have brought light to that which has plagued us in darkness death. We thank you that you have destroyed the curse through the work of Jesus, through His perfect life, his sacrificial death, his victorious resurrection and now His ascension, where he is interceding for us. We pray that we would hear this and believe, and that we would proclaim the good news of the resurrection to all that have ears to hear. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray Amen. Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon For more information. Jesus that we pray, amen.