Easter Sermon

Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. An idle tale, they thought…

Another version said, “it all seemed to the men like so much female chatter, and they wouldn’t believe them.” The women are the 1st witnesses to the resurrection. He is alive! And they go to tell the other disciples… Nonsense… Idle tale… Female Chatter…

But the women disciples remembered the words of Jesus and were ready for Easter, ready for the resurrection. The 11 disciples were not. They were stuck on Good Friday in grief and mourning. They probably were still feeling ashamed for abandoning Jesus…

Those faithful women had walked with Jesus to Jerusalem, were there on the road putting down palms and garments, shouting hosanna as Jesus rode by on a donkey, they were there to celebrate the Passover with Jesus, they agonized as they watched him beaten, condemned and crucified on a cross… The women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance as he died on that cross, watching these things.

But there at the tomb they were confronted with a new reality. Outrageous. Nonsense. The stone was rolled away… They did not find the body. Suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them and said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you…” And they remembered…

But even as the 11 had trouble with this, Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened… And the word began to spread, it couldn’t be contained. That idle tale was Good News, he is alive!

As one writer put it, “Why do you look for the living among the dead is the question for Easter morning. Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. It's not over. It's only begun. Don't think you can come here and hide. Go into the streets and look for him. Go to the prisons and soup kitchens. Go to the ghettos and hamlets. Go home to your families. He is there among your spouses and children, your coworkers and friends, your classmates and teammates. In other words, beat it! The best part of the story is ahead of you.” (Garrett Keizer in The Christian Century)

In Jesus’ final moments, only the women disciples were left. The women would be witnesses to the Cross, to the empty tomb and the Resurrection. And they go out from those angels, telling the others that he is alive and indeed the best part was still to come, experiences of the resurrected Christ and the beginning of their new journey…

It didn’t end on Good Friday, it just began on Easter and the women helped the other disciples get there. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “To live the Christian life means being human by virtue of the incarnation, that is God born for us in Jesus, Christian life means being judged and granted mercy by virtue of the cross, Christian life means to live a new life by virtue of the resurrection. One is not without the other.”

Our journey goes from Christmas, to Good Friday, to Easter and beyond. The road to Easter is a journey with no short cut. We must travel from a glorious birth, through his ministry and finally through the suffering and the cross. It is a journey that takes us through the best of times and the worst of times leaving us before the cross and the tomb. But, our God is faithful and the journey never ends on Good Friday, we can’t get stuck there!

Because God shows us the best of times with Jesus’ resurrection and with our own empty tombs, resurrected lives, for he bring us salvation. It is Easter and God wants us to join those women and the disciples and celebrate that Christ is risen! Today we are the witnesses of the resurrection. We like Mary Magdalene and Peter and the other disciples, tell about our experiences of God and spread the Good News.

We are witnesses, like Mary and the other women to the surprising and amazing event of Easter. God still surprises us today because through suffering, new life and hope can be born in us, if we are faithful and are willing to bear witness to the cross of Good Friday and the empty tomb of Easter. Mary was transformed and so to we can be if we remember the words of Jesus and believe them…

Today we begin our journey anew, not with some idle tale, but with life, for we speak of the Good News of Jesus, of a tomb that was empty, of his resurrection, and God’s saving grace. How wonderful Easter is! Alleluia! Christ is risen. Amen.