April 5, 2026 Sermon
Sermon title: “He is Risen!”
Scripture: John 20:1-18
(Other lectionary suggestions include Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118:1-2 and 14-24, and Colossians 3:1-4.)
John 20:1-18
The Resurrection of Jesus
1Early 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. 2So 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.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and 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. 13They 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.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus 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.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to 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.' " 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Once again, good morning and Happy Easter! I know that we all love Christmas, but if there had been no Resurrection, there would not have been a schmaltzy Christmas morning with Baby Jesus goo-gooing in the manger! Again, I love Christmas, but we owe our being here today to the belief that Jesus rose from the grave. And look who was the first to find out? Mary Magdalene! And if you have a tough time believing, that’s okay. So did Mary, at first. I’ll get back to Mary later on, but first I want to share what the Rev. Lucy Lind Hogan has to say. I found her in WorkingPreacher.com. She thinks we are encouraged to view this story not as the end of the story, but as a new beginning. This is from her commentary on John 20:1-18, today’s Scripture reading. She begins by saying:
In the beginning - in the NEW beginning....
John presents us with the narrative that lies at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus, who was crucified, has been raised. We watch as Mary, Peter, and an unnamed disciple discover that Jesus’ tomb is now empty—the outward and visible sign that Jesus has conquered death and that a new creation has begun. And we are witnesses to the moment when Mary meets her risen Lord. Her grief turns to joy, and she brings to us the good news that has been proclaimed throughout the ages: “I have seen the Lord.”
This portion of John’s gospel is a play that unfolds in three distinctive acts: a story about people searching, about sadness and fear, about action, surprise, and joy. And it is a story that takes us full circle back to the opening of the gospel.
The scene opens on a solitary figure walking through the darkness. Mary Magdalene has broken through her fear in order to tend to the body of her teacher and friend. All gospel accounts of this moment vary on some points. But what is consistent is the day and that it is Mary Magdalene who is the first to go to the tomb.
When Mary finds that the stone has been removed, she jumps to conclusions. Her perception of what has happened is that someone has entered and stolen the body. But the author does not tell us whether she entered or even looked in the tomb. Did she really know that the body of Jesus was not there? (How often do we jump to conclusions about God’s actions in our lives?) Nevertheless, she runs back to tell Peter what she believes has happened.
Act two shifts to the experiences of Peter and the unnamed disciple intriguingly identified only as “the one whom Jesus loved.” Over the years there have been many suggestions as to whom these two might represent: Jewish and Gentile Christians, Petrine and Johannine Christians. Could it be that the beloved disciple is unnamed because, as one biblical scholar has suggested, this person is to represent us?
Like Mary, they run. The unnamed disciple, perhaps younger, arrives first. Since he could be the junior partner, he waits until the senior partner, Peter, arrives. He (or could it be she?) allows Peter to be the first to enter. Inside, Peter discovers that the tomb is, indeed, empty.
And unlike the case of the four-days-dead Lazarus, who stumbled out of his tomb hindered by his burial wrappings (John 11:44), the cloths are still in the tomb. The details are intriguing. The author describes the placement of the wrappings but also notes that the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head has been rolled up and put in another part of the tomb. We should note that the tomb is truly empty when Peter and then the other disciple enter. There is no angel, no heavenly messenger.
John tells us that the beloved disciple “saw and believed.” But what did he believe? It could be that he believed Mary was correct—someone had stolen the body of Jesus. Or did he believe what Jesus had said the night of their last meal together, that Jesus had “conquered the world” (John 16:33)?
Act two ends as the two go home. There are no shouts of joy, no celebration. The emptiness of the tomb does not seem yet to have made a difference. (How many people in your congregation will not be feeling joy, hope, or certainty this Easter morning?)
The focus returns to Mary standing outside of the tomb. Weeping, she does, this time, enter the tomb. It would seem that neither Peter nor the other disciple have offered any words of comfort or encouragement to Mary. But Mary does not find an empty tomb. While the body of Jesus is not there, as in the synoptic gospel accounts there are two angels. In response to their almost ridiculous question (of course she should be weeping), Mary repeats her interpretation of the situation: the theft of her friend’s body.
Finally, she repeats the question once again to a man she believes is the gardener. This may not be as ridiculous an understanding as it seems. It could be that John is giving us clues as to how we might understand what has happened. Two things drive us back to the beginning of John’s gospel, encouraging us to view this not as the end of the story but as a new beginning.
First, in the opening of John’s gospel, Jesus’ first words are a question directed at the disciples of John the Baptizer: “What are you looking for?” (1:38). And here, in this beginning, this new creation, Jesus asks Mary the very same question: “Whom are you looking for?” (20:15). A new ministry is beginning, a new story.
Is Jesus asking the same question of us this Easter morning? What are we looking for? It was when Jesus called Mary by name that she recognized her beloved Rabbouni. Is Jesus calling our name? And when John’s disciples called out to this Rabbi, he invited them to “come and see” (1:39). Are we being called to see the new things God is doing in our lives and in our world?
Second, unlike the synoptic gospels that begin at dawn, John’s tale begins in the dark, the absence of light. This is the writer who, at the opening of his gospel, took us not to a stable but to the very opening of creation: “In the beginning.” Could it be that John is taking us back once more to that primordial darkness when “the earth was a formless void, and darkness covered the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2)? The author is echoing Paul’s declaration that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we experience a new creation: “Everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
And where are we? In a garden. Without knowing it, Mary has correctly identified Jesus as the gardener who is bringing a new world, a new life, and a new creation into being, as he had done before: All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:3-5)
In the first creation story, God drove Eve and Adam out of the garden. But in this new creation Jesus sends Mary out of the garden rejoicing. She is sent out to tell everyone that darkness has not overcome the Word made flesh who lived among us. She has seen her Rabbi, and she now understands that she has seen “the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“I have seen the Lord,” she announces (20:18). Her message declares the new beginning that God has prepared for all of us.
Finally, I like what the British scholar N. T. Wright has to say about Mary Magdalene. He makes the point that Mary is the Apostle to the Apostles. He says, “If someone in the first century had wanted to invent a story about people seeing Jesus, they wouldn’t have dreamed of giving the star part to a woman. Let alone Mary Magdalene.” Amen. Christ is raised. Alleluia! What do you think?
Pastor Skip
