First Reformed Church of Little Falls NJ

Message from Sunday

Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Again, welcome to you all here this morning—God loves you and has called you each here, to gather with your believing brothers and sisters, and to warm yourselves in the fire of faith. Many of you have been walking with God in worship all through Lent, but for those of you who have not, what we did all through the weeks of Lent was look at various stories in Scripture wherein people have had interactions with Jesus. And of those texts, we have answered together three simple questions: Who was this person before they met Jesus? What was the interaction like? And who was this person after they met Jesus? Throughout the weeks, we have seen that a demon-possessed person becomes a person calm and sure. We have seen that a deaf and mute man becomes a man who hears the voice of God and preaches God’s kingdom. How a woman made invisible to enemies and country-people alike by her disordered life becomes a woman seen, heard, and believed. How a woman called a dog by Jesus gains his blessing by being willing to engage his mind. How a woman lost and condemned by her sin and her religious leaders becomes a woman forgiven and loved. How a magician addicted to power and money gives up his manipulation and repents of his greed. Sisters and brothers, this is the Savior we worship, who takes us as he finds us but never leaves us that way.

The pattern that we have noticed during this long Lent does not change for Easter. John 20 contains stories of two people changed by interactions with Christ. And it is worth noting that both of these people are already believers; they have already met Jesus, been called by him, followed him. But the current circumstances of their lives have left them in need of Christ’s saving grace again. And isn’t that our story, too? That salvation is not just an event, but also a process.

The first of these people is Mary Magdalene. What do we know about Mary Magdalene? Magdala, a regional designator. A formerly troubled woman from whom seven demons had been cast. A faithful and constant follower of Jesus, right to the end. What is she doing here at the tomb? Mourning. Despairing. Stewing. When she gets there, she is shocked to see the stone rolled away, and runs to get other disciples to confirm her fears, that the body of Jesus has been moved by grave robbers, or by pranksters, or by vandals. You see, in the cold light of day, the disciples have remembered that Jesus said he would die, but in their grief, have forgotten his promise that in three days he’d rise. This is who Mary is: a person lost in despair, blinded by tears. Fearing that all Jesus’ words were meaningless, that all she hoped for gone.

But Jesus shows up for Mary. He doesn’t pass her by. You see, he rose to reconcile the cosmos to God, but he rose to heal the heart of Mary, amen? Jesus appears to her, but she does not recognize him. Now, why might she not recognize him? I’ve always suspected that it has to do with the quality of the resurrection body—the same yet different somehow, such that Mary doesn’t exactly know what she’s looking at. It’s intriguing to me to use this passage to think about our own resurrected bodies. And again, it might speak in a mysterious way about the resurrection body that Jesus tells Mary not to touch or hold onto him.

But the sight of him is enough for Mary to remove her despair and replace it with hope; enough to remove her mourning and replace it with joy; enough to remove her fear and replace it with faith. For a believer, this is what a glimpse of Jesus is able to accomplish: hope, joy, and fearless faith.

The other person whose dramatic change that St. John focuses upon is the apostle Thomas Didymus, Thomas the Twin. One of the twelve, we hear St. John pointing out. You know, thank God for the motley crew that Jesus called for his disciples, because we see themselves in them. What do they call the state of Missouri, the Show-Me State? Here’s one from the land of Show-Me. I won’t believe unless you show me. Raise your hand if you’re like this. Thomas is this kind—the kind that doesn’t believe talk; even the talk of the other disciples. A tough nut to crack—and Jesus had called him.

And once again, Jesus shows up for Thomas! He comes just for Thomas to that upper room, where they’re hiding out, out of fear. Thomas gets his show-me. And once again, folks, what is this saying about the resurrection body? That it retains its scars, amen? It retains its wounds, and by those wounds, Jesus is recognized, and believed, and known. Again, doesn’t it make you think about our resurrection bodies? Jesus’ resurrection body doesn’t pretend that the crucifixion never happened; God has glorified the wounds and makes them the thing by which Jesus is known.

We see it here…Thomas sees the wounds and makes a confession of faith all over again: “My Lord and my God!” he exclaims. My Lord and my God. He believes all over again. Salvation is not just an event, but a process. Thomas is moved from fear to faith.

Sisters and brothers, it is the resurrection event that changed the world—Jesus’ resurrection body was a new thing on earth; St. Paul calls him the “firstborn from the dead.” What’s so good about St. John’s gospel is that he shows us carefully that yes, Jesus’ resurrection was for the cosmos—for the whole created order—but it was also for little old Mary Magdalene, to heal her heart. And it was also for little old Thomas Didymus, to save him from his fear and doubt. Jesus’ resurrection was for the cosmos, to bring all things into right relationship with God, but it was also for little old you, to save you and to show you the lengths to which God’s love will go, and it was also for little old me, to save me and to show me the lengths to which God’s love will go. Believe the good news of the risen Christ, believe it and do not despair or doubt, believe it today and tomorrow and the next day and the next, let him save you and continue to save you until you are finished and perfected in God, the way that Jesus was finished and perfected in God. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! Let us pray.