THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF EASTER

#372                              THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF EASTER                                               

Scripture  John 20:11-18, NIV                                                                            Orig. Date 3-26-1967

                                                                                                            Rewr. Dates 3-1978, 3-19-1989

Passage: 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”  “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 

14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).  17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Purpose: To share an Easter message exemplifying the hope that is in our Christ.

Keywords:                    Christ, Saviour            Easter              Hope               Resurrection                                        Special Day, Easter

Introduction

            There have been times over the years when I was the first to leave the scene of someone’s darkest hour.  Other times I have lingered at the grave-site following a committal service.  Occasionally, I have even returned with the family to the family home.

            I have watched bereaved and broken-hearted people shuffling away from some flower-bedecked grave.  The flowers, for all their beauty, did not change in one iota, all that that grave represented.  I have seen men and women leaning heavily on the stronger arms of some other loved one because the grief  had sapped all strength.

“Oh, ‘tis the pang severest

            That human hearts can know,

To lay what we hold dearest

            Thus, in the dust below.”--unknown

            A painting pictures Mary Magdalene in such an hour as this.  It is called The Return from Calvary.  Mary Magdalene and another woman, Mary (Zebedee’s wife), Salome, Joanna, we are not told which.  Grief is etched on Mary Magdalene’s face.  Despondency is her destination..  Against the horizon, in the background of the picture can be seen the three crosses of Calvary.  When first mentioned (Luke 8:2f) she is identified as one “out of whom went seven devils.”  Jesus had occupied such a special place in her life.  Now what?

            As another has written that it was she:

“Who while apostles shrank, could dangers brave

Last at His cross, and earliest at His grave.”—Eaton Standard Barrett, 1786-1820

            Those who went out on that first Easter morning did not know what Easter was.  Too many still are not so certain of the meaning, of the “dawning of the age of Easter.”

I.          The Dawning of Easter Confirms the Lordship of Christ.  V16 “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Mary.’ She turned herself and saith unto him, ‘Rabboni.’”  Other passages confuse us in the failure of disciples to recognize Jesus.  Was it the semi-darkness of first light?  Did tears distort her first look?  Were their recollections altered by what they had seen of Him on the cross?

            Make no mistake, this is the One who had lived among them as the Son of God.  V17 “I ascend to my Father, . . . and to my God.”  What Mary doesn’t need, and Jesus doesn’t impart is some well-intentioned philosophy.  We have mentioned her “seven devils.”  They could be medically derived.  She could have been a social outcast.  Likely, the problem was sin.  I heard Dennie Duron tell about the conversion of a former team-mate during surgery for a self-inflicted gun-shot wound.

            Whatever else it means, here is a woman of checkered past into whose life Jesus came.

            Now Jesus is dead.  What is left?  No words will still the torrent in her breast.  Times Picayune (3-23-1978): Killed cancer-stricken wife, then himself.  Note: “I had rather spend eternity in hell, than see her spend another day in her hell.”

            She waits for some hope that is equal to her grief.  Uncle Tom had been sold and was on his way to Simon Lagree’s death farm.  Reading scripture to a slave who could not read.  Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all.”  Slave: “Them’s good words, but who sez ‘em?”

            Only God’s Son and Consort would dare to brig such outcasts into the Father’s presence.  V17 (again) “I ascend unto . . . your Father, . . . and your God.” The One He called Father, He identified as  her Father, also.  Thus is the ascension of Christ surety for the believer.

II.         The Dawning of Easter Declares Jesus Alive.  V12 “Two angels in white sitting . . . where the body of Jesus had lain.”  You see, we are not merely left an empty tomb.  As important as burial places are.  The tomb of Abraham has been a revered place among Hebrews for 4,000 years.  Mohammed’s shrine has been marked in Medina since June 8, 632 A.D.  Lenin’s tomb bears the inscription “He was the saviour.”  But the empty tomb of Jesus brought no comfort to Mary Magdalene.

            By His appearance to the disciples, Jesus showed Himself alive.  What an impact those appearances had on the disciples.  Cleopas: “Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake?” (Luke 24;32).  “The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord” John 20:20.  “Peter cast  himself into the sea” John 21:7.

            John 21:24 “This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things: and we know that his witness is true.”

            Picture, then, what his sudden appearance would mean to Mary Magdalene.  V15 “Woman, why are you weeping?  Who are you looking for?”  Tears of sincere remorse and conviction do not go unnoticed.  Revival for most churches, believers, awaits such contrition.  Every pastor’s burden is, “Is it something I lack?”  It was to comfort such grief that Christ came.  V15 “Tell me where thou has laid him and I will take him away.”  The empty tomb has not assuaged.  An unknown Jesus has not comforted.

            In speaking her name, she at once sees.  V16 “Mary!”  “Rabboni! which is to say ‘Master.’”  The flush of recognition pierces her broken spirit.  So poignant the sound of her own name that the cobwebs are driven from her brain.

            It is the intent of Christ, through his Holy Spirit to verify Lordship, Life today.  V17 “Go to the brethren.  Tell them I ascend to my Father, and your Father.”  See v23.

III.       The Dawning of Easter Evokes His Purpose—Provides the Resurrection.  V17 “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father.”  Up to now, they had been able to love Him as one whose physical presence was known.  Mary reaches out to touch Him as she has done before.  In the dark defile the shepherd does not lead, but accompanies the sheep.  The staff is the extension of his hand.

            It is for reason other than rebuke that Jesus denies her touch.  Remember, the first Easter service was not to Peter and John. They had been there but are now returned to their homes (v10).  It is to Mary Magdalene that He has made His presence known.  Mark 16:9 “He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.”  Faith in one’s living Lord must be paramount.  Touch is not necessary.

            The Holy Spirit’s ministry throughout the ages has been to manifest a living Lord.  To this end, Jesus lived His life with the cross ever before Him.  His ministry was among the people with whom He lived.  The Holy Spirit would broaden that outreach to touch all ages.  John 16:7 “. . . it is expedient for you that I go away:  for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

Conclusion

            A story is told of a wealthy merchant whose friend and acquaintance of many years had come to a destitute condition.  The merchant was moved with pity at the plight of his friend and determined to do what he could to help.  He chose a trusted servant and sent him to the man’s home with gifts, and with a sealed envelope.

            The man was out, himself seeking some relief from his dire circumstance.  His wife received the offerings of friendship.  The gifts were applied to household needs of which there were many.  The envelope she placed among  her husband’s private papers. At the merchant’s death she inquired.  Found: a blank check, the account now closed.  Have we acted on God’s benevolence?