John 20:1-10
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
John 20:11-18
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
As we seek to recover and learn from the pandemic, one of the many scars that we've seen is the polarization of our society; lots of divisions were created over ‘Us’ and ‘Them’; over masks, vaccines, and politics which have been exacerbated for the last number of years. These divisions of US and THEM have caused hostilities in families and in friendships, in marriages, even in church relationships—unfortunately, this church included.
The ‘Us and Them’ dynamic is not new, but we have shifted from the more playful divisions of US and THEM, like when we cheer on our favorite sports team — (except the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees - that one's really bad.) Or the team that your child or grandchild plays on.
The US and THEM divisions even happen when family traditions get strained when there's a new marriage. One family says, “Well, we always have pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.” Another family says, “We always have chocolate silk pie.” Who has chocolate silk pie on Thanksgiving? But friends of mine do. They don't like my rum pumpkin pie. They've got to have the chocolate silk pie or… it's not Thanksgiving. Or we have to watch football on Thanksgiving. My father would rather stick needles in his eye than watch Thanksgiving football! Seriously, we spent a lot of time naming the “US versus THEM” comparisons. In fact, I did that this week. The list is ridiculously long.
But there's another ‘US and THEM’ dynamic rooted squarely in John's telling of this story. For us, we do hear the good news of the resurrection in all four gospels…and that remains good news! But it's hard to not be envious or even skeptical at John’s telling of this story. After all, we weren't there. It's being relayed to us through the telling, but it didn't happen to us. It happened to them. Well, first, it happened to Mary and then Simon Peter and then the disciple whom Jesus loved. And then Mary went and told the rest of them, so then they were all in the know.
But I think the whole point of Easter may not be solely in the joy of the “He Is Risen” and the relief that the Lenten journey (if you're able to sustain it) is now over. You can go back to eating your chocolate or bread and yelling at your spouse. But let's put ‘US’ to the side and look, again, at ‘THEM’.
Mary's grief is hers but it’s also grief that we are familiar with. She is seeking to grieve and remember her beloved, now dead, crucified friend. Now she's disturbed and perplexed, because not only is he dead, his body is missing. But, thankfully for US and THEM, Mary gets a glimpse into the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrected Jesus. Mary’s lucky. Well, I should say “blessed”, because Jesus calls her by name, and she actually hears His voice. And we can only do that inside our heads. But in hearing his voice her grief is transformed. Jesus has overcome death and now He lives to tell about it.
But scholar Gail O'Day opened my eyes to what a new day really means for THEM and US in the book of John. The revelation of Jesus’ appearance is only part of the story. It's actually His ascension into heaven (that we sort of gloss over) which is really the turning event. In the ascension, the ‘US’ and the ‘THEM’ disappears. Why? because Jesus links us to God forever. He literally says, “I'm ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. That includes not only Mary and the disciples, It means all of us. In this life and faith-altering event, Christ's death on the cross not only shows His love for us and washes away our sins; the resurrection shows us that death can, and will be defeated, but that Christ in his ascension goes ahead and prepares a place for us, ALL OF US (as we hear in John 14).
I often use that scripture, John 14, for funerals, because people want to know that their loved ones are in heaven and that there's a place for them. “I go ahead to prepare a place for you. If it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, there you will be also.” That's comforting. But in the meantime, while we're still living here, the ascension opens a new door to life and reminds us that we are Tekna Theou, which is the Greek for “children of God”, beginning in John 1. The ‘They’ and the ‘Them’ and 'Us' become a ‘we’. And if that's really true, which I believe it is, then we can be truly united and engrafted, not only into God's relationship with Christ, but then Easter brings an end to all the polarizing beliefs. It brings an end to all the things that separate and divide us. In this event, Easter changes society from a ‘members only’ to an ‘open invitation’ to love. Love in the way that God loves all of us.
Joyce Rupp puts this beautifully in her poem in her book Fresh Bread. She writes:
I have been entombed within the ego and the self. I have been dead within the walls of winter. I have grown weary of this waiting in the cocoon, and I know sorrow and the pain of transformation. Yet in the graceful stillness of this early April morning I am greeted in love with an inside Easter. I can leave the linens of winter lying behind me. I can shake off the dust of the dead. It is time to break loose. It is time to come forth. It is time to allow life to wing its way into depths. For I am coming forth, coming forth from my own tomb. And, just like my God risen, I can feel bonded with the whole world. I can share the brokenness brought by one. I'm on my way to eat bread and drink wine with all of my dear friends and all of the strangers. I'm on my way to offer my presence to those I meet on the road. I'm on my way to bring resurrection to all who needs God's healing life.
It is Easter, friends. Let us all be glad and be joyful! Amen.