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John 20:1-18

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

20 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’s 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.

11 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 touch 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.

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

John—20:16 

THE MAGDALENE’S BLESSING

For Easter Day

You hardly imagined / standing here, / everything you ever loved / suddenly returned to you, / looking you in the eye / and calling your name.

And now / you do not know / how to abide this hole / in the center / of your chest, / where a door / slams shut / and swings open / at the same time, / turning on the hinge / of your aching / and hopeful heart. 

I tell you, / this is not a banishment / from the garden. / This is an invitation, / a choice, / a threshold, / a gate. 

This is your life / calling to you / from a place / you could never / have dreamed, / but now that you / have glimpsed its edge, / you cannot imagine / choosing any other way.

So let the tears come / as anointing, / as consecration, / and then / let them go.

Let this blessing / gather itself around you.

Let it give you / what you will need / for this journey.

You will not remember / the words— / they do not matter.

All you need to remember / is how it sounded / when you stood / in the place of death / and heard the living / call your name. 

~ Jan Richardson 

Christ is risen!

We know Christ is risen. Mary saw him at the tomb; we have her witness. We have the writers telling us the story in the Gospels. We hear the story in the hymns we sing. 

We know Christ is risen because we see God in the people around us, no matter where we are in this world. 

We know Christ is risen because we experience him in our lives. Christ is there in our joy and our sorrow, in our grief and in our gladness. Where there is love, the spirit of Christ is there. 

We know this. This morning we celebrate it as a community of believers. Our ancestry goes back to those that ventured out in the wee hours of the day and found an empty tomb.  

Of these three witnesses in John’s gospel passage for this morning, all came to believe through different means, and at different times. 

Mary Magdalene went out while it was still dark to anoint Jesus’ body as was the custom of the Jews at that time. She found the tomb empty but did not go in. Mary Magdalene immediately ran to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple the startling news. 

The disciple whom Jesus loved, arrived at the tomb but hesitated to go in. When he was ready he entered the tomb, he saw for himself that Jesus was not there and immediately believed. 

Simon Peter, by many accounts throughout our gospels the impulsive one, charged right in when he arrived at the tomb. 

After seeing for themselves, the two men went home, but Mary Magdalene stayed. She wanted to be close to where Jesus had lain. She let herself weep. Belief came upon her gradually as she struggled to understand the message of the angels, and then the bewildering turnabout when the one speaking to her was not a gardener, but her beloved teacher. Mary experienced Jesus as that of familiar presence and of future promise. Faith carried her forward. 

More than two thousand years later, we come to our faith in ways uniquely our own and yet remarkably similar to these first believers. Our individual life experiences, our culture, our gender, our privilege or lack of privilege all shape our encounters with the risen Christ. 

In a span of minutes or hours Mary Magdalene moves from deep sorrow and grief at not finding Jesus’ body in the tomb to surprise and overwhelming joy at his presence outside the tomb. She hears his voice and believes. For the second time that morning, she runs to the others, this time proclaiming, “I have seen the Lord!”

As it was for Mary and the disciples, may it be for us. In our darkest hours we may be comforted and consoled by Christ’s presence with us. May we hear and recognize the voice that speaks our name, calling us, including us, welcoming us. 

Perhaps Mary met the risen Christ first because she was open to experiencing Jesus in a new way. The others saw when they were ready. We will see when we are ready. My hope, my prayer for us, is that we recognize the risen Christ when we encounter him, or her, or them. Not once, but over and over again. 

When we practice seeing not only with our eyes, but with our hearts, then we will be open to meeting the Christ spirit in others. 

My hope and prayer for us all is that we can say “I have seen the Lord!” with confidence, with incredulity, with regularity, with faith. My hope and prayer is that we not only see God in the usual people and places but that we also see God in unexpected people and places. 

Where have we seen the Lord lately? 

Some of us see Christ in the Idaho school teacher, Sarah Inama, that was compelled to stand up to her administration when told to remove two posters in her classroom. She refused. 

What were the two controversial posters? 

One rainbow colored poster said, 

Everyone in this room is:

Welcome

Important

Accepted

Encouraged

Valued

Equal

The other said simply, “Everyone is welcome here” and had a variety of hands in various skin tones with hearts on the palms. 

Sarah Inama was told she needed to remove the signs, including "everyone is welcome here," because her administration said it's not something everyone agrees on, but is personal opinion. She was told that the signs were not “content neutral.” 

Some of us see Christ in the person who suggested creating t-shirts as protest; walking billboards for inclusion. 

Some of us see Christ in the print shop and staff and volunteers that cranked out t-shirts by the thousands, fulfilling orders first for the local community, then across the country and finally around the world. 

And some of us see Christ in those supporting inclusion and equality, quietly or not-so-quietly, every day of their lives. 

I have seen the Lord! I have seen the resurrected Christ in the most unexpected people and places, standing up for what is right. I see God in you, and in me, and all around us.  

This morning as we celebrate the risen Christ among us may your hearts be open to it all – the grief, the wonder, the awe, and the mystery.

May you hear the familiar voice of our Creator speak your name and know that you are: 

Welcome, Important, Accepted, Respected, Encouraged, Valued and Equal. 

May you relate to the world around you in kind, with love and compassion toward all life. 

May your weeping be honored and respected. And also may joy transcend your sorrow.

May you know the presence of the risen Christ; today, tomorrow, and in all of your days. 

Christ is risen. Christ is risen, indeed!

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – April 2, 2025