Text: John 20:1-18

This is an Easter that anyone living at this time will never forget.  Let’s face it. No matter how hard you try COVID-19, Coronavirus, “The Virus”, stay home orders, and mandates put in place have shaped our life as we know it today.

I don’t know about you; the past month has been one of the darkest and most daunting months of my life.  Sure, we make the most of it, none-the-less it is difficult.

People view human contact completely differently than ever before. If you are a hugger like most people, you have learned to be satisfied with a friendly greeting with a minimum of a six-foot distance between you and the other person. It leaves one wondering if we will ever be comfortable being around each other again.

I got a message from my supervisor warning against nurses and staff against wearing their scrubs and badges in public.  Apparently, health care workers are being physically assaulted.  The very people putting their lives on the front line for others are the ones who are somehow being punished for their service. 

The mindset of these people is uncertain, but one thing for sure it is not rational.  They must see nurses in particular as a threat of further spreading the virus.  I am not sure what people are thinking.

Let me just say, if you are an essential worker at all, thank you.

Jesus on the Front Line for Us

You might be wondering what this has to do with Easter and our Risen Savior… before we go into the text lets remember the long and grueling week our Savior endured for us.  It was a week of being both verbally and physically assaulted.  A week of being falsely accused and tried for crimes Jesus Christ did not commit.

Jesus was more than an essential worker, He was on a journey that would lead to a cross on Calvary.  Jesus would be falsely accused and tried for crimes He did not commit.

God’s own Son would be mocked, beaten, spit upon, His beard ripped out by the hand full, and flogged with leather straps with a sharp bone tied to the end of the leather.  Jesus back would be shredded by the end of this and it was not over.

The people who insisted on crucifying Him made Him carry His cross to Calvary while hurling insults at Him.  Jesus Christ’s response was that of a lamb being led to the slaughter.

What the people then and people now miss is that Jesus did this not only for them but instead of them.  Jesus appeased the death penalty for us all. No one could see or was able to see what Jesus was doing for them and what He did for us now.

Mary Runs to the Tomb

Mary runs to the tomb while it is still dark and finds the stone had been taken away from the door.  Mary wastes no time to go and tell Peter and John.  Mary was probably going to the tomb to mourn the loss of a loved one the same as we do today when visiting the grave of a family member.

To her surprise, things are not as she would expect to find them.  When Peter and John run to the tomb they find it empty, grave clothes empty but otherwise undisturbed, and two angels sitting at the head and the feet of where Jesus Christ had once been. 

As Peter and John enter the tomb Mary looks instill in disbelief.  And then Jesus comes in victory, risen from the grave.  As Mary realizes that she is not speaking to a gardener and approaches Jesus, He instructs her to not touch Him because He has not yet ascended. 

Mary Recognizes Jesus Voice

Mary thought she was talking to a gardener, but when Jesus said her name she recognized Him.  Just like sheep know their shepherd, we know His voice.

Mary turned to Jesus with what I would imagine was a great surprise and said “Rabboni!”  Mary knows now she is looking at her risen Savior.  Mary probably wipes her eyes and takes a second look.

Jesus says “I am ascending to My Father and your father, and to My God and your God.” Jesus is saying in the most practical way “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Mary’s Responses to a Risen Savior

Mary went and did the very thing she was supposed to do, and that was to tell the disciples and other people.

That is the same response we should have today and that acknowledges our Savior is risen and tell other people. 

With the looming pandemic we all face, and with each passing day, it brings us face to face with our own mortality.  When we are face to face with anything it is easy to make that our focus.

The absolute most important thing to do is to not only remember the cross, but today most importantly remember the empty tomb, remember and praise our risen savior.

There is nothing in this world that can separate us from the love and atonement of Jesus Christ.  Let Jesus be your hope and strength not only during this difficult time but always.