Christ's Resurrection and Yours ~ John 20:1-18 ~ The Resurrection of Our Lord

Have you ever been so tired that you just can’t sleep?

Your body and mind have been going full throttle all day—but when the time finally comes to rest, you can’t…  Stress and worries pound away at your mind.  You toss and turn, as your mind and body deny you exactly what you need most…

We all have sleepless nights.  For me, they always happen any time my life changes dramatically, for the better and for worse…

I can’t imagine Mary sleeping in the days after Jesus’ death.  She loved Jesus deeply.  She believed him to be a man of God.  His crucifixion was the most terrible trauma.  Mary can’t move beyond the grief.  That grief is what takes her back to the tomb, well before dawn… 

But she suffers yet another trauma when she arrives at the tomb, and finds it empty.  The most obvious conclusion would have been grave robbers…  She then runs back to town and awakens Peter and Jesus’ beloved disciple to tell them the terrible news.  Immediately, they run to the tomb to see it for themselves.  Once they see for themselves that the body is gone, they go home.  But Mary stays at the tomb, still weeping…

Most of us can easily put ourselves in her shoes.  We suffer traumas so severe, that life literally melts away into sorrow…  No matter how hard we try, we just can’t move beyond the grief.  We can’t face tomorrow because tomorrow promises no relief.  Just more sorrow.  More uncertainty. 

And all along, Jesus feels dead to us.  Like we’ve lost him forever…

But Jesus meets Mary at this horrible place of death.  Jesus calls her by name.  He brings Mary into his victory over death—for Jesus’ resurrection is also Mary’s resurrection…

Notice what Jesus says to Mary: he says, “do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.”  In other words, “don’t hold onto me.”  While this may sound like a very cold response, his words speak an important truth about resurrection: Jesus’ resurrection is not be a return to the past.  Things will not be going back to the way they were before.  Jesus will abide with them through the Holy Spirit; the Advocate whom Jesus promised them over and over again, who will guide them into all truth and keep them forever in union with him.  They will see him not by sight, but by faith. 

Jesus’ resurrection does not mark a return to the past.  It begins a new future.

This is one of the most important truths about resurrection in a time when so many of us know so many sleepless nights because of so many hurts and fears.  It is inevitable that we will find ourselves, at some time or another, brought literally to our knees following a traumatic loss.  Our lives are built and lived out on the foundation of relationships with loved ones; along with our health and our abilities. Our lives are built on our vocations and on the plans we make for our future.  But when we suffer the loss of one or more of those things or those people, we’re brought to our knees with fear and sorrow.  We’re brought to our knees when we do wrong and there’s nothing we can do to make it right.

But resurrection happens within these traumas.  Jesus takes hold of you in the places of hurt, death, and fear.  He pours healing grace into your hurt.  He lifts you up out of our doubts and our despair.  He becomes the strength and the courage and the hope that we need to face tomorrow.  He takes you back into the world, where life is lived—so that you may live in and through him.  Jesus turns sorrow into joy He tHe , so that even when the loss is great, Jesus will be greater. 

So if you have been brought to your knees by sorrow, or if tomorrow is so daunting that you know no rest today, take heart: Jesus has come for you, to give you a new beginning.  Your grief will turn to joy and peace.  Believe in Christ, trust in his promise, and you will see.  It will happen.

But bear in mind that so many of our neighbors dwell in darkness.  There are so many who weep and languish in these difficult times we’re living in.  They know no rest from sorrow.  They need resurrection.  Our community needs resurrection.  Our world needs resurrection.  This beautiful gift Jesus gives to us is a gift that needs to be shared.  We need to go forth and speak it with our lips and also with our hands.  Our place is with Jesus, as he goes to all the Marys of the world, who are weary and broken down by sickness, poverty, and greed.  

Today, Jesus invites you into his resurrection—and into a new beginning.  Come to his table to eat and drink of his body and blood to be raised up for new life in Christ.  Return to the waters of baptism, and celebrate that you have been baptized into his resurrection.  If you are not baptized, know that Jesus’ arms are open wide to you.  It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve done, or what lies in your past.  He gives his blood in love to wash it all away with forgiveness.

Today is a new day to live in Christ; to rejoice; and to live in hope. 

He is risen indeed!  Alleluia.