“I have seen the Lord!”
--John 20:18
As we have journeyed through another Holy Week, we have sat
at table with Jesus and his disciples in the upper room and stood beneath the
cross of Jesus. We have witnessed our Lord’s sorrow, suffering, and death. We have heard the cry of the One who was
forsaken for the sake of the forsaken; for all of us who have ever been touched
by the brokenness, evil and mortality of the human condition. And then…
And then?
We come to an empty tomb.
What will you see when you look into the empty tomb on
Easter morning?
Mary Magdalene looked and saw insult added to injury. First her Teacher had been crucified
unmercifully and now it seemed like someone had stolen the body. What must she have been feeling? Shock?
Anger? Dismay?
Peter goes into the tomb and sees the linen wrappings lying
there and he simply sees what his eyes see. We don’t know what he felt or thought or how
he reacted. But, later that day, he is
with the other disciples locked behind closed doors. Afraid.
Paralyzed. Uncertain.
The Beloved Disciple goes into the tomb, sees the same thing
Peter did, but he believes. But what,
exactly, does he believe? Does he
believe Mary’s report that the body has been stolen or does he believe
something more is going on? John tells
us none of them fully understand what has happened. Bewilderment.
Puzzlement. Curiosity.
The tomb is empty. What
do you see?
Like these disciples, we can see a lot of different things
when we look into the empty tomb on Easter.
What we see depends a lot on what we bring with us as we look in and see
the folded grave clothes. Our vision can
be shaped… and clouded… by our own
shock, fear, and bewilderment, our life experiences and expectations, what we
have been taught and the values we carry.
Some try to explain it away.
Others just take it for what it is and leave it at that. Still others believe, or at least want to.
But what does it take to look into the empty tomb and see
resurrection and new life? What does it
take to behold something which truly transforms and changes our lives and how
we live them? What is it that opens our
eyes and moves us to shout with Mary and the other disciples “We have seen the
Lord!” to whoever we meet?
Well, with Mary… it
was the sound of her name on her Teacher’s lips.
With Peter and the Beloved disciple it was a word of peace
spoken in the upper room.
Like Mary, Peter and the Beloved Disciple, it is ultimately
Jesus himself who opens our eyes. The
Word made flesh who still dwells among us through the power and presence of the
Holy Spirit breaks through with a word of peace or the sound of our own
name. The Word breaks through in the
scriptures or a sermon, or a bible study, or the witness of a disciple or the
compassion of a friend or the kindness of a stranger. Easter happens whenever we are touched with hope
in the midst of despair, light in the midst of darkness or life in the midst of
death.
The cross assures us that God is with us even in the depths
of suffering, sorrow and death. The
empty tomb guarantees that suffering and sorrow and death will never have the
last word.
And that Good News truly changes everything!
Blessed Easter,
Bishop Mike.
Thanks for reading!
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