John 20:1-10

Let us pray.

O Lord, Risen, alive, and filled with grace. You have made an incredible sacrifice so that we may live in a renewed relationship with You. We praise Your holy name and express our gratitude for Your redeeming grace. Reign in our hearts and renew our minds and spirits. We pray this in Your name. Amen.

As I prepared for today's sermon, a mixture of anticipation and perhaps anxiety washed over me. For some of you, the story I'm about to share may be a familiar annual recounting, while for others, it could be a new experience. The beautiful Easter tale opens with, “Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and observed that the stone had been rolled away.”

Mary's encounter with the empty tomb — coupled with her uncertainties about the disciples, the angels, and the Gardener — led her to realize that Jesus was alive, having risen from the dead. God's purpose for Mary's life was beginning to unfold, though she initially couldn’t grasp it. It was only when Jesus called her by name that her confusion cleared, filling her with renewed purpose and a fresh relationship: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it!”

On the day of His entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus was aware that He wasn't going to be crowned but would instead be crucified as the ultimate Passover Lamb for humanity’s sins. Today, we gather to honor the King who serves each of us, raising us from death to eternal life through His innocent and sinless sacrifice. Today, we embrace Jesus, who approaches each situation in our lives with grace, power, and hope—a transformative relationship for everyone, as He laid down His life for the world’s sins.

In today's scripture, we see Mary Magdalene, along with Mary the mother of James according to Mark’s gospel, coming to the cross, driven by her love for Christ to visit the grave.
Unlike the other synoptic gospels, John focuses solely on Mary Magdalene, perhaps because she found Simon Peter, who then informed John as they ran swiftly to the tomb.

To clarify, the first three books of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—are called synoptic gospels because they share similar stories and wording related to Jesus's life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Now, let’s delve into who Mary Magdalene is.

Mary Magdalene was a woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons. After her liberation, she became a devoted follower. Despite incorrect assumptions portraying her as a sinner or a prostitute or even suggesting she was married to Jesus, there is no such claim in the Bible. She attended Jesus’ mock trial, witnessed Pontius Pilate’s death sentence, and saw Him beaten and humiliated. She stood by Him during the crucifixion to offer comfort.

In contrast, Jesus’ male disciples were not present; the other nine disciples were hiding in fear from the authorities that morning, unlike Peter and John.

In ancient times, women's testimonies were often deemed unreliable. Yet, it was women who first witnessed the empty tomb and were unwilling to fabricate a story about it, despite potential embarrassment. Throughout the narrative, Jesus would appear to many after His resurrection, documented at least ten times in scripture, including in Acts.

The story continues as John reaches the tomb before Peter and enters to find the grave clothes neatly arranged. At that moment, John comprehends that Jesus has risen from the dead. As noted in verse nine, neither John nor Peter realized until then that the resurrection had been prophesied in the Old Testament. When they returned home, they, like all of us today, needed a meeting with the living Lord. Mary, however, stayed outside the tomb, grieving, believing Jesus to be dead.
She then saw two angels dressed in white where Jesus had been placed, and they asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She replied she was upset because they had taken her Lord away and she didn’t know where to find Him. Turning around, she mistook Jesus for the gardener, unaware of His true identity, as He had come to nurse a drooping flower.

Many times, when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, they didn’t recognize Him. Why? They weren’t expecting to. The question remains: how could these disciples, who had walked and dined with Jesus, fail to recognize Him? The answer is uncertain. Perhaps Jesus concealed His identity intentionally, as He told Mary, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to My brothers and tell them I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” This was the very man who had freed her from seven demons, and her love for Him was deep, instinctively urging her to hold on tightly.

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives, where he assured them they would soon receive the Holy Spirit and instructed them to wait. As the disciples strained to catch a last glimpse of Him, He blessed them and then a cloud concealed Him from their sight, while two angels reassured them He would return “In the same way that you have watched Him go” (Acts 1:11).

Reflecting on Mary Magdalene’s proclamation about the empty tomb, her declaration, “I have seen the Lord” reinforces the resurrection's truth and confirms that the Lord communicated these truths to her. In 1912, music publisher Dr. Adam Geibel requested composer C. Austin Miles to write a hymn conveying tenderness in every line, aimed at bringing hope to the desperate, rest for the weary, and comfort for the dying. The hymn, titled "In the Garden," can be found on Page 476 of our hymnal.

As Miles engaged with the scripture, he envisioned himself at a garden entrance, looking down a gently winding path shaded by olive trees. He imagined a woman in white with her head bowed, entering the shadows—it was Mary approaching the tomb. She placed her hand on it, bent down to look inside, and then hurried away.

John, clothed in a flowing robe, appeared next and gazed at the tomb, followed by Peter, who entered slowly. After they left, Mary returned, resting her head on her arm at the tomb, weeping. Turning around, she saw Jesus and instantly recognized Him. She knelt before Him, arms outstretched, and cried, “Rabboni!” Suddenly, I awoke in sunlight, holding the Bible, heart racing and inspired. Guided by this vision, Miles quickly penned the words that came to him and composed the music that same evening.

“I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing, and the melody He gave to me within my heart is ringing. I’d stay in the garden with Him, though the night around me be falling; But He bids me go through the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling. And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”

What separates our faith is that the stone has been rolled away. The barrier between God and us has been broken. The resurrection changes everything—our lives are transformed. Many of us feel we need to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus. But Jesus invites all who are weary and burdened to come to Him. Regardless of who you are, you are welcome. There is always a resurrection Sunday. We serve a living Savior. Jesus is alive! When we encounter the risen Savior, we receive unlimited access to a new relationship filled with joy and peace, which the world cannot take away. Amen.