Easter Sunday
John 20:1-18
Early 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 it. So, 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.” Then, Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in, and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then, the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then, the disciples returned to their homes.
But, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and 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. They 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus 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.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Holy Week
Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, is always a little bit hectic. People are decorating Easter eggs and putting together Easter baskets. There are brunches and dinners to cook for, and there are extra services to plan or attend, depending on what your faith community wants to do on any given year.
One of those special services that we’ve had here for the last three years is the Maundy Thursday service that I created with the Rev. Laura Jean Romero, the former pastor of First Christian Church. Laura Jean was the first friend that I had here in Helena. One of my seminary classmates was ordained in the Disciples of Christ, and he knew her through Facebook because of that. When he found out that I would be moving to Helena, he connected Laura Jean and I on Facebook, and we started talking, so we became friends even before I arrived.
First Christian Church and Plymouth Congregational Church have
celebrated Maundy Thursday together for three years in a row, now, and it’s one of my favorite services of the year. It commemorates Jesus’ last supper, the night he was arrested, so the service is actually a meal, usually a simple one of soup and bread. And, the decorations are sparse, to reflect the somberness of the evening.
Laura Jean and I wanted to do something different with this service, something neither of us had ever seen before, something that we hoped would have an impact on the people who attended. It was quite a while ago, so I don’t remember exactly how it happened but we had the idea to have readers represent the twelve disciples, to say what they might have been thinking that night. Every few minutes, as everyone is eating their soup and bread, and making conversation, one of the disciples will stand up, and the room will go quiet as we listen to what that disciple has to say.
We wanted the evening to have a sort of dramatic arc, so the first three disciples to speak; Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee; and John reminisce about the past. They’re excited about the things they’ve seen and the things that they’re going to see as they follow Jesus around. Strange and amazing things just seem to keep happening around him.
The next three, Phillip, Bartholomew, and Matthew, are more introspective. They wonder why Jesus chose them, and they worry about the growing tensions around them, especially from the religious leaders who don’t seem to like what Jesus is doing.
Next come James, son of Alphaeus; Jude; Simon; and Thomas; who comment on what is happening at the dinner itself, and all of the strange things that Jesus is saying about how he is the bread and how he is the wine, and how confused they are about all of it. It is from these words and this meal that we have the Eucharist, the sacrament of communion, when we share bread and wine to remember these last days of Jesus. To remember his resurrection and our connection to him.
And then, there is Judas, who is trying to convince himself that he did the right thing when he betrayed Jesus.
The last disciple to speak is Peter, the rock, the man who Jesus said the church would be built on. He was the one who took two steps on the water before he got scared and started to sink. He was the one who denied Jesus three times, even after he swore that he wouldn’t! When Peter speaks, he’s reflecting back on that meal from two days in the future, the day before the resurrection. Jesus has died, and Peter is thinking about what happened that night, and how much has happened in the two days that followed. He wonders what they’re all supposed to do now, now that their leader is dead. He thinks about how Jesus said he was going to come back. The last thing Peter says is, “All we can do now is hope and pray.”
The thing that I like about this Maundy Thursday service is that is so easy to imagine what it might have been like to be there that night, to put ourselves in their shoes. The disciples don’t know what’s coming. Jesus has told them many things, including some of what’s about to happen, but they don’t know what to believe. As we make our way through the Maundy Thursday service, listening to what the disciples are thinking, our anticipation grows. The disciples don’t know, but we know. Jesus is going to be crucified. But then, he’s going to come back to life.
It’s been over two years since Laura Jean and I created that service together, long enough that I’ve forgotten a lot of what we wrote. So, as the disciples stand up and speak, a lot of the things that they say are a surprise. They ask a lot of questions, questions that aren’t answered. But, we wrote the service that way on purpose. We know that the disciples had trouble sometimes understanding what Jesus was telling them. And, it was more important for Laura Jean and I to be honest, to accept the limitations of what we knew, rather than risk leading someone astray.
There are too many people in the world who think they have all of the answers. But, thinking that you have all the answers is a recipe for trouble. Instead of trying so hard to find the right answers, Laura Jean and I thought it was more important to ask the right questions.
A couple of people did ask me this last Maundy Thursday what were the answers to all of the questions that the disciples asked, and I just had to laugh. Because, if the people sitting right next to Jesus when all of this was happening didn’t understand it back then, what hope do we have, two-thousand years later?
We have our theories, of course, about what it all means; theologians have been arguing about Jesus ever since he ascended into heaven. But, if anyone tells you that they know everything there is to know about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, I would advise caution. There is much that we do not know, much that we cannot know. I don’t think that our human brains are fully capable of comprehending the majesty of God, and the mystery of the resurrection. The mystery of the Trinity. But, there are some things that most Christians agree on. Jesus taught goodness and love. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Jesus was killed because the religious authorities didn’t like what he was saying and doing. Jesus was brought back to life in order to save us, and that could mean any one of a million things, depending on who you talk to.
What I know is that something special happened that day, two-thousand years ago. Jesus was dead, and he was miraculously brought back to life. And, I believe that things that Jesus did while he was alive were just as important as what he accomplished by dying and coming back from the dead. He was God made flesh, come down to be with us, to mourn with us and celebrate with us. To live as one of us. He taught us compassion and generosity. He taught us justice and mercy. By his death, he showed us the evils of the world. For the wages of sin is death. Pride, hunger for power, greed, these are the things that put Jesus on the cross. And, he was brought back to life, to show the world that God is stronger than pride, stronger than greed. Stronger than our need for power.
We have been made new through the cross. We don’t have to live in fear, wondering what’s coming next. We know what’s coming. The resurrection is coming. We don’t have to carry the burden our sin anymore. Jesus took all of that to the cross and left it there. We are a new people, resurrected through Jesus the Christ. So, show the world who you are. Share your new self with a world so desperately in need of hope and joy and love. Jesus is alive inside of us, and we are the mercy and generosity that the world needs. We are the vessels that carry God’s justice and compassion to those who need it most. So, be bold and courageous as you do God’s work, and remember that you have been made new in our risen Lord, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
