When something out of the ordinary happens that seems too good to be true, humans are skeptical at first.  We rub our eyes to see if what is in front of us really real.  We’ve been fooled, tricked, trapped, and betrayed in our past that has tampered with our ability to believe now.  We look for ways to explain what has happened because if we can explain it, we can believe it.  When it is news that is so great and so good, we first hold it to ourselves, giving our minds time to catch up before we truly believe it so we can tell it! 

Given these human tendencies, we wonder about all that is going on in the minds of the devoted followers of Jesus who are overcome with grief coupled with fear over what happened to their Master just three days before.  Fear keeps them in hiding. 

Mary Magdlene and other women are the first to go to the tomb only to discover that the body isn’t there!  They go tell the disciples.  John took one look inside the tomb, saw the evidence—and believed.  Was he the first to remember what Jesus said about rising on the third day and believe?  What exactly did he believe?

After seeing to investigate, the disciples went back home.  Were they thinking, nothing to see here?  Were they reeling from fear of what might happen next to them who have now discovered an empty tomb?  What will the religious police do to us?  Whatever is in their minds, they went back to their hiding place.

Mary stayed at the last place she saw her Lord—the garden tomb.  Still weeping and  wondering, she was the first to see Jesus!  Jesus was indeed fully alive, risen from death to life, scars, and all! “Go and tell the others, Mary.”  She was the first to tell the Good News!

John 20, The Message

Resurrection!

^1-2 Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, gasping for breath. “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

^3-10 Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.

^11-13 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”

^13-14 “They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.

¹⁵ Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Sir, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Mary Magdelene, (and few other women according to other gospel reports) came very early, before the light of day, to prepare the body of their Lord with spices and herbs.  The process had to be delayed because according to The Law, they would not be allowed to take care of burial preparation until after the Sabbath.  So, here they come, with broken hearts, tears in their swollen eyes to do what they must do after the Sabbath. Did their grieving hearts weaken their physical resolve? On the way, did it occur to them how they would roll the heavy stone away so they could enter the tomb to do what they came to do?  Was there relief and wonder when they saw that the stone was not only rolled away, but the body not where they placed him three days before? 

When they heard the news of the empty tomb, Peter and the other disciples who ran to the garden to see for themselves but then went back home with wonder.  Maybe they wondered if they would be blamed for the disappearance. Fear and wonder sent them back home to hide and wait.

The glorious truth of the resurrection was not understood immediately by even His closest followers. It gradually dawned on these grieving people that their Master was not dead, but alive! And what a difference it made when the full realization of His resurrection took hold of them! For Mary Magdalene it meant moving from tears to joy (John 20:1–18), for the ten disciples it meant going from fear to courage (vv. 19–23); and later, for Thomas it meant moving from doubt to assurance (vv. 24–31).

Consider these thoughts written by Max Lucado.  The Good News changes everything when we believe!

“For three days Jesus’ body decayed. It did not rest, mind you. It decayed. The cheeks sank and the skin paled. But after three days the process was reversed. There was a stirring, a stirring deep within the grave . . . and the living Christ stepped forth.

And the moment he stepped forth, everything changed. The resurrection is an exploding flare announcing to all sincere seekers that it is safe to believe. Safe to believe in ultimate justice. Safe to believe in eternal bodies. Safe to believe in heaven as our estate and the earth as its porch. Safe to believe in a time when questions won’t keep us awake and pain won’t keep us down. Safe to believe in open graves and endless days and genuine praise.

Because we can accept the resurrection story, it is safe to accept the rest of the story.

Because of the resurrection, everything changes. Death changes. It used to be the end; now it is the beginning. The cemetery changes. People once went there to say goodbye; now they go to say, “We’ll be together again.” Even the coffin changes. The casket is no longer a box where we hide bodies, but rather a cocoon in which the body is kept until God sets it free to fly.

And someday, according to Christ, he will set us free. He will come back: “I will come back and take you to be with me” (John 14:3). And to prove that he was serious about his promise, the stone was rolled and his body was raised.

For he knows that someday this world will shake again. In the blink of an eye, as fast as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, he will come back. And everyone will see him—you will, I will. Bodies will push back the dirt and break the surface of the sea. The earth will tremble, the sky will roar, and those who do not know him will shudder. But in that hour you will not fear, because you know him.”  Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Because of Mattthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we are blessed with all the details for one purpose: “These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.” John 20:31

Believe and be saved!

Lord,

I believe!  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. Thank you for taking away the sins of the world with the bonus gift of eternal life to all who believe you.  Thank you thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen