I learned many years ago that the best way to begin to understand scripture is to personalize it—to put oneself there
and relate to the words. The Easter reading is no exception to that.
I remember the night that my Grandfather died. Darby—I called my Grandfather Darby and no one ever knew where that name
came from; apparently I just made it up as a small boy. Darby was the most gentle, soft spoken and loving man I have ever known and Darby died in his own bed, in his own house with his family gathered around.
I will never forget that on that evening after Darby died, my Grandmother began to cry. Someone came over and put their arms around Grandmother and said; 'stop crying now, stop crying.'
Grandmother gently pushed away and replied, 'Please, let me have my tears.' And my Grandmother cried.
Tears are God's way of flushing out sorrow. Tears are precious and tears bring healing. Don't
ever deny anyone his or her tears of sorrow. Yes we believe in eternal life, but when some one we love dies to this life, we miss that person, and our tears are natural and are a God given gift.
But on that night at Grandmother's house, I had heard the words 'stop crying' and there I was, a young Englishman taught to keep a stiff upper lip and taught that only girls cried! I did not cry.
Eventually it was time for me to leave their house and make my way home. I went out and got into my little two-seater car and drove away. I remember that it was pouring with rain and my
windshield wipers could not keep up with the torrential rain. And alone in that car, away from anyone watching me, I cried. And I cried, as I realized how much I was going to miss Darby. The
man who had put me on his knee and told me countless jokes and riddles; the man who had shown me how to work with wood; the man who had slipped countless three penny pieces to buy
ice creams, was gone. And I was going to miss him terribly and I was not quite sure what to do.
And that, I realize, is somewhat how Mary Magdalene felt in the
early hours of that Sunday so many years ago. You see Jesus had changed Mary's life completely. Mary had a troubled life. Tradition has it, that many people considered her a wretched
and bad woman. Many no doubt avoided her and put her down. But Jesus had seen her worth and value as a daughter of God, and had healed her of emotional, physical and moral demons.
Jesus had changed her life, and Mary had loved him and followed him, and on the Sunday morning she was realizing how much she missed him and she was not sure what to do. She had
seen him die on the cross—there was no doubt about that, and she had seen his body taken down and buried. In his Gospel, John records what happened on the Sunday. It is in chapter 20: 1-17.
Mary had suffered through a terrible Saturday and now early on the Sunday she made her way to the tomb, determined to do something for her Lord.
Just when it seemed that nothing worse could happen, Mary arrived at the tomb and discovered it open and empty. Somebody has stolen the body of her Lord—or at least, that was what she
thought. She ran back to the house and told Peter and John that the body had been taken. The three of them ran back to the tomb. John arrived first and stopped and looked in—it was empty
just as Mary had said. Then Peter arrived, and as impetuous as ever, ran straight into the tomb—it was empty just as Mary had said. Finally Mary arrived, and they just didn't know what to do next.
Peter and John returned to the house, but Mary stayed. We do not know what caused Mary to stay. Surely there was little or nothing she could do, but something drew Mary to stay. Still
crying bitter tears, Mary looked again into the tomb and this time had a vision of two angels who asked her 'why are you crying?' Mary's reply was straight to the point—'Because they have taken
away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him' and she turned away from the tomb—and suddenly she was face to face with Jesus!
But her eyes were full of tears and it was still quite dark and she did not recognize him. He said to her 'why are you crying?' And Mary supposing him to be the gardener answered with the same
reason she had given the angels. And then came the single word exchange between Jesus and Mary. "Mary." "Master." There is recognition and relief, there is recognition and astonishment, and there is recognition and love.
Instead of the rather hard 'hold your tears' or 'stop crying' that we sometimes use with each other, Jesus used the softer 'why are you crying?' The result is the same, there was at least a
beginning of moving away from the tears and the confusion and the anger to the relief and comfort. Mary had seen her Lord, alive again, and she returned to tell the others. John concludes
his passage with the words; "Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with the news 'I have seen the Lord!' And she told them all that he had said to her." (John 20:18)
That is the timeless Easter account. That is the everlasting Easter event, and this is the assurance of our faith. This is
what sets us apart from every other religious belief—we believe that God, the eternal God of all creation, came into this world; that the Word was made flesh in Jesus; that Jesus lived and
ministered and then gave his life that we might live, and that on the third day he rose from the dead in the glory of the resurrection with the promise that we too will one day also rise to eternal life. That is Easter!
Then, our reading from the Book of Revelation gives us a key passage confirming this faith. In his vision, the Apostle John saw a wonderful event. Here is what he wrote: "Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride for her husband, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will live with them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more.' Rev. 20:1-4
The words of Psalm 23 come immediately to mind; "Even though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me..." Ps 23:4
These are but the dreams and wild hopes of the world at
large—that there could be an end to pain and crying and the fear of death. But these are the assured facts for the followers of Christ!
The faith that in our belief we have already crossed over from death into life; that we are saved to this life here and now and to the life eternal. This is what we celebrate every day. We
celebrate that Christ arose from the dead—and so will we!
For each of us in the faith, there will come a time of physical death—it is no good denying that,
but for us it will be like passing through a doorway that is already wide open, and through that door there will be no more pain or worry or tears, just life!
C.S. Lewis' was a great Christian writer, and on the day he died his friend Walter Hooper was at his bedside. Hooper wrote this in his biography of Lewis; "seeing how peaceful Lewis was, I said
to him 'you know, you really believe all those things you have written don't you?' Lewis looked up and replied 'of course, of course, that is why I wrote them.' A few hours later Lewis died, and he went through the door."
If you would know who Jesus is, understand these events of Easter Sunday:
- God has thrown back the stone and has shown us that Jesus has risen.
- Through Christ, God has opened the door for each one of us to one day pass through into an eternal life with him.
I know that one day I will pass through that door, and I hope that you can say the same thing.
Easter Sunday lasts one day, but life can last an eternity!
In this brief three-part study I want us to ask the
question—who is Jesus? Make no mistake, this is not an academic question intended to stimulate our curiosity or to test our knowledge. This is the most important question that
we can ask, or be asked, in our Christian faith. Our answer to this question cuts to the very nature of our faith. Who is Jesus? Is he an historic figure providing insight into life two thousand
years ago? Is he the mystical head of a church that provides us with strength and support whenever we need it? Or perhaps, do we reply that he was a very important teacher who provides us with a good basis for daily living?
Part I