Easter Sunday, Year C
Sunday, March 31, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18
"Do not hold on to me,” Jesus
told Mary Magdalene, “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.'” (John 20) Do you think Jesus could have stayed for a
bit with Mary Magdalene? She was so
overjoyed to see him, couldn’t he have just said, “yeah, give me a hug; let’s
talk for a few minutes.”? Apparently
not. “Do not hold on to me,” Jesus said,
“because I have not yet ascended to the Father.”
Even
in Jesus’ resurrection, his death still meant a goodbye, although it was only a
goodbye for now. Before his crucifixion,
Jesus told his disciples, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
(John 14:3) In Jesus’ death and
resurrection, he was going to God the Father to prepare a place for us so that
through death, we too might be with him, our soul’s beloved, and through death,
we would be reunited with all of those whom we call beloved.
Paul wrote that the last enemy to be
destroyed is death, that in Jesus, death is swallowed up in victory. I think of death as having been destroyed as an
enemy, no longer something to be feared.
While death is still a less than
wonderful thing, not something we would generally wish on people, Jesus
revealed death to be a doorway, so that through Jesus, death is not the end,
but an entry into continued life with God, Jesus preparing that way for
us.
Jesus
had a way of turning things around, didn’t he?
Love you enemies. Blessed are the
poor and the meek. An implement of torture and death turned into a symbol of
faith and life. Through death, our great
enemy, I give you new life and bring you to God the Father. Through death, I will grant you the deepest
longing of your heart, dwelling with God, with me, and with all those whom you
love. “Do not cling to me because I have
not yet ascended to the Father. Let me
go so that I may go prepare a place for you so that where I am, there you may
be also.”
For thirty some odd years living among us
as a human being. Through Jesus all of
this was made, and then he came and lived among his own creation. Jesus loved this life. He partied with his friends. They prayed together. They worshipped God in the beauty of God’s
creation. Jesus created as a
carpenter. He sang songs. He shared meals with his friends. He taught us about life, about God. Jesus taught us about who we truly are as
God’s beloved children. Jesus, our great beloved, lived among us for only
thirty some odd years, and we still love him, still tell stories about him,
still long to be with him, just as the throngs of people who stood for hours in
the heat of the day just to catch a glimpse of him and to hear what he had to
say.
Jesus loved this life, and yet when it was
time to go, Jesus said, ““Do not cling to
me because I have not yet ascended to the Father. Let me go so that I may go prepare a place
for you so that where I am, there you may be also.” If Jesus had not gone to the Father, he would
have remained as he was. Jesus left to
be with the Father, to prepare a place for us to be with the Father, and so
Jesus is still here among us, within us.
Jesus
turned an implement of torture and death into a symbol of faith, hope, and
love. Jesus turned our great enemy death
into a friend, a doorway through which we share eternal life with him, with
each other, with God. Jesus, our great
beloved is with us, has been with us, and will be with us now and always. Alleluia, Jesus is Risen. Amen.
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