sermon excerpts: "Mourning has Broken", John 20: 1-18

It was a busy holiday time when Jesus died. No one wanted to work, so they broke the legs of the crucified so that they would die quicker. Jesus was lucky to have Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus to take custody of his body and find a burial place for it.

Even though the rest of the Jewish culture was celebrating the Passover, the followers of Christ were stunned. In shock, in mourning, at a loss to explain what happened or express what they were feeling. And the rest of the city kept on going about its business, such as it was in the festive time of remembering God’s mercy and grace at work in the history of the Israelites.

It didn’t seem real, everyone else was going on with life and the man who triumphantly entered Jerusalem the week before was gone. Humiliated, tortured and discarded as another minor irritation in the great machinery that was the Roman Empire. It didn’t seem real, because it wasn’t really real. Does that make sense?

We know Jesus had risen from the dead. Which is fine and well and good for him. But what about those he left behind? That is always the question that has to be addressed in times of grieving and loss. Funerals and memorial services are not for the dead but the living.

The survivors of Jesus’ faithful followers were trying to figure out what to do next. As soon as she could, Mary went to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away. The disciples had to see for themselves and even then they didn’t believe. They didn’t remember the words that Jesus had spoken that foretold these events.

Mary Magdalene, in the garden, rebuffed by the disciples, took some time to gather her thoughts and collect herself. She sees Jesus himself and even then it took a while for the realization to come to light. Understandable. Anytime we lose someone important to us, things are foggy. Especially in a brutal and tragic way that Jesus was tortured and killed.

It is a shift in mindset, to suddenly move from mourning, grief and loss to happiness. On a smaller scale, we experience the ups and downs, thrills and heartbreaks in a pinch-hit homerun or last-second 3-point shot or an overtime goal or save. That is sports and admittedly quite low in the big picture priorities of the grander purpose of life.

Imagine the same rollercoaster of emotion on a scale of life and death, of national politics and cosmic evil and good. What happened that morning is bigger and broader than anything that we could every imagine or understand. Life and death would never be the same.

For the past 6 weeks we’ve been in the season Lent where we’ve been asked to examine our lives and how we respond to temptations, choices, extravagant generosity, forgiveness, promises and covenants. We’ve journeyed with our ancestors in faith as we remember these stories and figure out what they mean for us in our day and age.

... While some days it may feel like it, we will not be nailed to a cross and killed. We will never have to be. The grander perspective, the fuller picture of the Easter story gives us comfort and assurance that life will surprise us by breaking through the most desperate times. That joy and hope can spring up from a garden of tears and dismay. Life cannot be contained or subdued. Let us remember that at least; and savour the taste of a meal shared together; and as we sing of a morning walk in the garden, let us remember that Mary Magdalene, in her faith and struggles, experienced the wonder and amazement of God’s grace that remains alive and available for us all to this day.