A, Easter Sunday—
John 1:1-18
O Lord to see you is the end and the beginning. You carry us and you go before us. You are the journey and the journey’s end. Amen.
In the Epistle of James, the writer says, “I’ll show you my
faith by what I do” (
Just like the disciples in this morning’s Gospel lesson, your
commitment to your faith is evident. How
might you ask? Well, you didn’t have to
get up so early this morning. You didn’t
have to come to this
But instead, much like the disciples in this morning’s text, you rose very ‘early in the morning, on the first day of the week, while it was still dark’ (vs. 1) and you came to look for, to remember and to worship the Lord Jesus.
Christ, after his resurrection, says some important things in a conversation that he has with a disciple. What Christ says to one disciple on that first Easter morning, he may say to you and I on this Easter morning. While talking to Mary, Jesus asks her a question. And at the end of their conversation, he gives Mary an instruction. What Jesus says to Mary is important, because may say the same thing to all of us.
As the resurrection story unfolds, Mary is left at the empty tomb by herself. She bends down and looks into the tomb and sees two angels. When she turns back around, she sees Jesus standing there. At first she doesn’t recognize him, but he recognizes her. Jesus notices that Mary is crying, he asks her a question.
He says, Mary, “Who are you looking for?” (vs. 15) With his question, Jesus was basically asking her, ‘Mary, What are you doing here?’ It’s early in the morning. It’s barely daylight. Mary, “Why are you here?” Who are you looking for?
The obvious answer to the question is that Mary was looking for Jesus. The other Gospels tell us that she was at the tomb to anoint and care for his body. And she was at the tomb to grieve. And when she didn’t see the body she was worried and concerned. So, Jesus asks her the question about what she was doing there and who she was looking for.
For you and I, Jesus question could be directed to us. It could be directed to us because the question relates to our spiritual lives. Spiritually speaking, this morning, whom or what are you looking for? Why are you here?
Each of us may have somewhat of a different answer. I think we come to Church for many reasons. An important reason is that we are looking for God in our lives. We want to have connection to God—and then we want to keep and maintain that connection. Those disciples on that first Sunday morning would say that they had found God in their lives in a unique way, because they had a relationship with Christ. While he was living, Christ was their connection to God. They came to the tomb because Christ was a unique way that they had found God in their lives. They loved him and they didn’t want to lose that connection.
In a similar way, we come this morning and I think we come every Sunday morning for the same reason. Christ’s question calls us to look inside ourselves. ‘Why are we here?’ ‘Who are we looking for?’ We may come for many reasons. Primarily, I think we come because through our relationship with Christ, we find God in our lives. This Church, this community, these scriptures and this sacrament is how we connect to God in our lives. We don’t want to lose that connection.
After she recognizes Jesus, they talk a little further. Then Jesus gives Mary an important instruction. “Go to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord” (vs. 18). Now, for the disciples, it had been a trying few days. The disciples had been scared and afraid. To say that their faith had been put to the test would be an understatement. Jesus instruction was for Mary to go to the disciples and announce that the events of Holy Week had been completed and that Jesus had risen from the dead.
In its most basic terms, Mary was instructed to tell others about her encounter. Specifically, that she had encountered the risen Christ. After all, she was the first to see and to speak with him. She was instructed to tell what she had experienced and what she had seen on that first Easter morning.
Notice that the news that she shared was something that she had personally experienced and something she had seen for herself. The news that she shared was that Christ had done something no one else had ever done. Christ had overcome death and had risen from the grave. He was in fact the Son of God. His death had not been in vain. Rather, it was a part of God’s plan for Christ’s life.
In a similar way, as disciples on this Easter morning, we may have a spiritual encounter with the risen Christ. Not just on this Sunday, but potentially every Sunday we may have an encounter God—we may have it in the community that assembles, in the scriptures we read, the prayers we make, the worship that we offer, and the sacrament we celebrate.
Beyond these, God is present in our day to day lives, in the gestures of love that we receive from others. We encounter God when we pray for our family. We encounter God when we face hard circumstances. Perhaps most profoundly you and I will encounter God as we are welcomed into the Kingdom as we take our last breath. Closer to home, in our day to day lives, we encounter God’s grace when our shortcomings and our mistakes are forgiven.
In the story, the news that Mary was told to share was what she had personally experienced and what she had seen for herself. Maybe on this Easter morning, Christ would ask us to do the same. We are reminded in this story that a powerful way that we can all witness to our faith is to speak out of our own experience. God has worked in each of our lives. At different times, we’ve all had spiritual encounters that could only be the presence of God in our lives. At different points we all have the opportunity to talk about and share our encounters with others.
So this morning, why are you here? Who are you looking for? The spirit of the risen Christ is here so that we may connect to the presence of God in our lives. Remember that we are called to be a witness to this fact as we go out into the world.
Amen.