The Love That Empties Tombs
Text: John 20:1-18
Proposition: The risen Lord empties the tombs of our unbelief, His resurrection inviting us to glorify Him.
Introduction: It was Friday afternoon, the crowds had returned to the city leaving the three crucified bodies a deterrent to all. Joseph of Arimathea went quickly to Pilate, he asked for permission to take care of the body of Jesus. He then went into the city to purchase a large quantity of white linen in which to wrap the body. At the same moment in another part of the city, Nicodemus the Pharisee, who also loved Jesus, was purchasing a large amount of myrrh and aloes, about 70 pounds in weight, which he would use with Joseph to help bury the Messiah. They took the body down from the cross, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were with them. At the tomb they entered and began the task of placing the myrrh and aloes into the wraps of linen. Around and around the body they wrapped until all was used, and like a great cocoon. Then they placed the body onto the stone ledge carved into the side of the burial chamber. They picked up their cloaks, took one last look at how low in the grave He lay, this Jesus, their Lord. Death lay heavy upon them, the stone rolled and with a grinding thud, the day ended.
You cannot begin to talk about the resurrection until the stillness and finality of death have been felt. The stone that sealed the tomb is such a picture of death, immovable, impersonal, entombing. Once death happens there are no second chances, no amount of bravado or indifference can bring assurance. It is the door of the tomb, and when it is closed there no longer remains strength nor appeal to reverse it. When the sun went down on Good Friday, death was a certainty.
Sun rise… 36 hours later… early Sunday morning… Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, come back through the garden to the tomb. They were going to unwrap and anoint the body, preparing it as the final ritual of burial. They knew they would be defiled because of handling the dead, an act which would render them unclean for seven days (Numbers 19), but resolutely they move towards the tomb. Read with me the account of what then took place, turn to John 20:1-18. Look and listen to the first words that Jesus says after rising from the dead.
- I.Woman, Why Are You Weeping? Whom Are You Seeking?
These questions when taken in the immediate context are self-evident, they show Jesus recognizing her distress and even the cause of her distress. She is looking for the body of someone who was very close to her. But what was it that Jesus was leading her to discover, certainly not the location of a lifeless body. Where had Jesus just been, what had He just done, what had He just experienced?
On Friday He had for three hours experienced the placing of the penalty of the sin of all mankind upon Himself, from noon to three on Friday afternoon as He hung on the cross. Paul went so far as to say in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.’ Jesus had experienced the imputing of sin upon Himself. He had then experienced death and in death sin was atoned for. The debt was paid and it was sufficient to satisfy the holy wrath of an Almighty God against any sinner who would seek refuge in such a Shelter. The human body of Jesus died and sin was propitiated. That was Friday. Then came Saturday, the Sabbath. It was like the first Sabbath, the seventh day of Creation. Now a new creation was being made, now humanity was redeemed. This Sabbath rest marked the completion of this new covenant act of the Creator. Then came Sunday, the body that was perishable, the body with thorns embedded in it, the body covered in sweat and gashed with wounds, this body became imperishable, this mortality became immortality. Paul wrote the anthem to this in 1Corinthians 15:54, “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in Victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?’ The literal death and very real resurrection of Jesus is what is being proclaimed. It’s what the Apostles taught in the first centuries of the church, in 150AD it was embodied in the Apostles Creed.
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”
The immortal, imperishable humanity of Christ was standing before Mary and saying, ‘Weep no more, I am here and I have the keys of death and Hades.’ You see Mary had been sealed in the tomb of belief in a finite God and Jesus was rolling back that stone inviting her to come into the truth.
- II.Mary!...
This is just a brief point but it needs to be seen. Three times Mary had pled the statement, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and I do not know where they have laid Him.” The essence of the cry is that she was seeking for Jesus with all her heart, she was trying to find Him, she was desperate to know where He was. In the end it was not she who found Jesus, but Jesus who found her. And how did the Mary who was lost become found of Jesus… it was when she searched for Him with every ounce of her heart and strength, it was when Jesus called her name, an unrecognizable Jesus but an unmistakable Jesus, the moment He called her name. Mary was trapped in the tomb of belief in a Lord who could be separated from her by the actions of others and Jesus was rolling that stone aside. The actions of others can be very final, like death, they can assault you with fear and the horrible feeling of being alone. In one word, the word of your name, Jesus reveals that nothing can ever separate you from Him. He knows your name, your searching and wounded spirit He will not crush nor snuff out. You will be found of Him as you seek Him with all your heart.
III. Do not cling to Me…
Mary hears her name and responds, Rabboni‘’. It was a term that was given to only a very few Rabbi’s and was often used as a reference to God. Mary recognizes the deity of Christ, but there is something wrong here. Jesus says, “Stop clinging to Me”. What had she been looking for… the body of Jesus…what had she known…the Son of Man who lived and walked among them and had cast out seven demons from her…what had she just found… the risen Lord Jesus Christ who is her Savior and is her Lord and God. It wasn’t that touching Him was wrong, Jesus invited the disciples to do that, it was the old manner in which she wanted to cling to Him. Mary’s familiarity with Christ needed to change. He was not going to stay amongst them as He had in the past, His deity was even now being unveiled. Mary had become trapped in the tomb of belief in a lesser God, one that existed for mankind’s comfort, mankind’s glory. Jesus came to roll away that stone. He came to declare the glory of God the Father, even reflect the glory of the Father as they saw Him, their Redeemer… risen. Familiarity oversteps the bounds of relationship, you know that and know what it feels like when it has happened to you. Jesus establishes some new bounds for our relationship with God in these words to Mary. For the very first time He calls us ‘brethren’, or ‘brothers’. But this term is not meant to somehow level us with Jesus, as though suddenly He has ceased to be the Creator nor us the created. Not at all, He alone is Almighty. Instead He defines that now we too are children of the Father through Him, children set free from the tombs of unbelief and the sin which so easily entangles… because He is Risen.