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Easter Sunday |
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John 20:1 - 9 " Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)" For me the three characters in the gospel for today represent the faith types of different Christians: Mary Magdalene, Simon-Peter, and John. Let's look at the characters a bit more and see if we are Mary, Peter, or John on our faith journey. Mary Magdalene, who loved Jesus much, who was first at the tomb. She was faithful, went to see Jesus when others were in hiding, and too afraid to go out,but perhaps her tears and sadness for crucified Jesus blinded her from seeing the Risen Jesus. The empty tomb at first became the source of sadness and hopelessness. The resurrection of Jesus doesn't seem to have sunk in yet. Tears blinded her to see beyond the empty tomb. Some of us are like Mary Magdalene at times. Our own frustrations, failures, and sadness blind us from seeing beyond. We continually blame ourselves for our mistakes and misgivings and become prisoners of our past. Moving on is not an option. We know the good news is out there but it's hard to overcome the sorrow and sadness. Sometimes we need an extra bit of help to become more thankful of all the joys and graces that we have received in our lives. Mary will believe and go on to be a joyful witness of Christ's resurrection. Jesus calls her by name; she listens and responds. Are we ready to cast away our tears and sorrows and listen to the voice of the Risen Christ as He calls us by name? Are we like Peter more? In the Gospels and in John especially, the name of the apostle Peter changes, depending on his response in a given situation. He was called Simon when Jesus called him. The encounter with Jesus led to his nickname, Cephas or Peter which means “the rock.” When he acted imprudently, recklessly, without understanding or overconfidently even, he was “Simon.” When he acted as a true disciple with genuine faith, Jesus and the Gospel writers refer to him as “Peter”. He was “Peter” when he said, “I will lay down my life for you.” (13:37) But when he was hesitant, indecisive, and reluctant, he was “Simon Peter”- when he betrayed Jesus (18:25), during the washing of the feet (13:6) and when he struck Malchus’ ear (18:10). In the passage we read above, the name “Peter” and “Simon Peter” are used at different points. While hiding in fear he was , “Simon Peter”, when he received the news from Mary and ran from his hiding place to see what had happened to the body of Jesus, (20:2) and ran to the tomb, he was “Peter”. But he became “Simon Peter” again when he entered the tomb and failed to believe. Sometimes, we are like Peter, rash, courageous, committed to following the will of God; but at times we are also “Simon” – a doubter, afraid, saying the wrong things, even unbelieving, when challenges and difficulties come and things get though. We can also be leaders of our families, our communities and inspire others to believe, to be bold, to die even for our faith. Yet the process from "Simon" to "Peter" is a long and painful one. Peter had to be broken, weeping in repentance, forgiven personally and asked to confirm his faith, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." before he could really be the person he was called by God to be. So we will have to go through this process. You don't need to do it alone though, Jesus is with you every step of the way. Catherine of Sienna wrote in the 13th century that if you are the person God has called you to be, you will set the world on fire. Are you ready to set the world on fire today? Perhaps you are more like John and the wordl needs more Christians like John the Beloved. Mary had seen the empty tomb and assumed the worst, that the body was stolen. Simon Peter went into the tomb and didn't get it!. John, the beloved disciple, listened, ran, waited for Simon Peter, entered the tomb and saw everything the others had… and he immediately believed (20:8) What he sees and doesn't see even, lead him to believe in the resurrection ofJesus.That's the difference between Lenten faith and Easter faith. Perhaps John understood because he loved more. For him the empty tomb was a sign of the Resurrection. He saw no proof except a folded cloth. Mark ends his Gospel with the empty tomb in the oldest manuscripts, for some Christians, the empty tomb is enough. They don't need angels, earthquakes, voices, they just need love. Love can see something beautiful in the folded cloth in an empty tomb. Love sees hope in anything, even in the tomb. Love can grasp the truth when it's hard to understand the facts. Love believes even when all seems dark. It reminded me of these words that were found scrawled on a cellar wall where Jews had hidden in World War II in Cologne, Germany. I believe in the sun Can we say the same today? Is the empty tomb enough proof? It is for John.
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