1.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from
our crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The
message from God’s Word this glorious day of our Lord and Savior Jesus’ resurrection
from the dead is taken from John 20:1-18 and is entitled, “From Tragedy to Triumph,” dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
Reporters
interviewed Senator John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut, following the
explosion of the booster rocket and space shuttle in 1986. He said, “Life is a series of triumphs and tragedies!”
I agree. We have known our share of grief and sorrow. This Easter morning we
ask, “Can triumph follow the tragedies of
life?”
3.
If we
asked the Lord’s disciples that first Easter morning, “Can triumph follow tragedy?” the answer would have been a definite
no! They were overwhelmed with a sense of tragedy. Their Master had been
crucified and buried in a tomb. None were prepared to speak about hope and
triumph. Neither they nor we may escape the tragedies and sorrows common to
life after the fall into sin. These burdens are extra heavy when we doubt that
Jesus rose from the dead.
4.
It was early and dark when Mary
Magdalene came to the tomb. The sun had not risen, neither had faith begun to
dawn in her heart. Vivid memories of that dark Friday still haunted the
disciples—the black sky; the Lord upon the cross, bleeding, dying, his cry of
agony piercing the darkened sky, his last shout; the soldier’s spear thrust in
his side. Surely this nightmare had come to an end. There could not be more.
But Mary saw in the distance that the stone had been taken away from the Lord’s
resting place. She panicked. Someone had tampered with the Lord’s grave. She
turned and ran back to tell Peter and John. “They
have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him”
(v 2).
5.
In the midst of the tragic scenes
of modern life, some people eye Christians with envy, believing that deeply
religious people don’t have to face real grief. If this were so, everyone would
want to become a Christian. We could not build churches large enough to
accommodate all who would be drawn to Christ for a trouble-free life. But
Christians are not immune to grief. Scripture says in John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” Our Lord knew the feeling
of deep loss brought by tragedy. He knew the many contradictions to happiness
throughout our lives.
6.
There are gains in life and there
are losses. It may be the loss of a pet dog that has been part of everything
going on in the family for years. Gainful employment is outsourced to other
countries. A man is laid off from his job after 15 years of faithful service. A
woman approaching middle years is alone. Her husband advanced in the company
and is gone most of the time. We can lose our health, our eyesight, our
hearing. Drastic surgery may diminish us. For so many reasons, we feel a deep
sense of loss.
7.
Do you register more losses in life
than gains? Turn to the Easter Gospel. Sense those deep feelings shared by the
Lord’s disciples before Easter dawned, before faith dawned in their hearts. We
are not strangers to those feelings. We have walked in the disciples’ shoes.
Peter and John responded to Mary Magdalene’s sad report. They ran to the tomb
of Jesus in order to investigate. The younger man ran faster and arrived first.
John loved Jesus with a love that carried him swiftly that morning. How did
Easter faith dawn in his heart? How did John discover and experience triumph in
the midst of tragedy?
8.
The subtitle on a journal article read,
“I’ve long since forgotten the Easter
sermons!” But the sermon that tracks the swift footsteps of the urgent
disciple that first Easter just may stir within you new faith to lighten that
heavy burden of grief or deep sense of loss. Return to the garden, to his tomb,
watch and see, and then believe! Be lifted up this Easter Day! The stone was
rolled back from the tomb. John stooped to look inside. He saw the grave
clothes, but the remains of Jesus were gone. The disciple was baffled. He
leaned against the exterior front wall of the rock tomb, his head buried in his
arms, as he agonized in grief. “They
crucified my Lord. Even now, they will not let him rest!”
9.
John’s sense of tragedy is
compounded by the mysterious absence of the Lord’s body. Though the empty tomb
is not the ground of Easter faith, can it possibly be a sign of hope rather
than despair? Think about it, John. And you bearers of life’s heavy burdens,
you think about it too. A vacancy has occurred in that house of death. Is there
not the faint suggestion that the other tombs we see, may also one day in the
resurrection yield the very bodies they hold captive in bonds of death? Is it
not true that when the angel, later appeared to attend that tomb where the
Lord’s body had been, their first word was a reference to the empty tomb? They
exclaimed, “He is not here!” That was
part 1 of the angelic sermon the first Easter service. And part 2 followed.
They proclaimed, “He is risen!”
10.
While John was standing there
collecting his thoughts, while the first rays of the dawn of new faith were
breaking within his grief-stricken heart, his friend Simon Peter came huffing
and puffing. The bold Simon strode right into the tomb. He looked around. The
grave clothes, the linen wrappings belonging to the Lord’s body, were there.
But that was all. The body of the Lord was gone. John entered the tomb a second
time and saw the covering for the Lord’s head, neatly folded in a corner by
itself, separate from the grave clothes. There was no sign of haste. Grave
robbers would not be so neat. What did it mean? Mary Magdalene had exclaimed in
frantic tears, “They have taken him
away.” What if it were not they, but
he? Could Jesus himself have laid
aside the garments of the grave as if needing them no more? Could he have set aside
the clothing of the dead? Could he have risen from the tomb? Could he be alive?
11.
And what was happening to these
disciples as they pondered what they saw? John and Peter stood there for a
quiet moment, bewildered. Had they forgotten some things? St. Luke reports that
Peter saw and wondered (24:12). John gives testimony to his own thoughts and
feelings. He is standing in the Lord’s tomb. It is empty. He sees the grave
clothes, discarded, like a glove from which the hand has been removed. He sees
the linen shroud, the headpiece, lying neatly to one side. And then, yes, the
sacred text relates, “He saw and believed”
(v 8b). Suddenly, that heavy burden of grief was much lighter and easier to
carry. He saw and believed! There came to his mind and heart the memory of the
Lord’s faithful Word. John had forgotten. Grief forgets so many things, and
John’s grief had made him forget. But, in that moment within the empty tomb, he
remembered how Jesus had said so many times, “The Son of God will rise again!” That Word was true! Faith dawned
in the disciple’s heart, and with faith, there also dawned a sense of triumph
and victory!
12.
Friends, especially you, bearing
heavy burdens of grief, and you, feeling a deep sense of loss, can you on this
Easter Day “see and believe”? Stand next to John and Simon Peter within the
Lord’s empty tomb. Look about. Remember the Lord’s great Word and promise. He
would rise from the grave. He said it plainly, and now so clearly, his Word is
true. Behold, “He is risen!” You know
that your Redeemer lives! Whatever has happened in your life, or is now
happening, if the very foundations are shaking, even crumbling beneath you, not
everything is lost. The Lord lives! You may tell him your griefs and sorrows
and disappointments. The great enemies, sin and death, have fallen defeated
before the glory of the risen Christ. And your troubles are not too great for
him. Go to him for comfort and help and direction in your life.
13.
“Comfort
one another with these words!” That was the encouragement for early
Christians as they battled the odds of sorrow and tragedy. What strength, what
comfort there is in these words of Paul from 1 Thessalonians 4, “For since we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have
fallen asleep. . . . Therefore encourage one another with these words.” These powerful resurrection words are the
greatest tonic for grief and sorrow this side of heaven! No empty promises
here, but solid answers and certain assurances. Later that first Easter, the
Lord appeared and showed himself risen and alive to the disciples on the road
and in the breaking of bread with them. He dispelled gloom and sadness. The
Lord stood in the midst of the Twelve behind closed doors. Later he joined them
in Galilee for breakfast along the seashore. The risen Lord stood in a crowd on
one occasion and confirmed the faith of more than five hundred persons. And
this risen Lord stands behind all his words to help you this hour of your life,
this time of crisis or grief. You may derive unexpected relief and help and
comfort from him who says, “Surely I am
with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt 28:20).
14.
Is there waiting for you today an
empty house, a veritable prison of loneliness, pain, and sadness? The Lord goes
with you. He is there before you turn the key in the door. He who vanquished
sin and conquered death is there with you. “He
is risen!” Take to heart that glorious Word! Faith dawns in your heart this
Easter Day! Jesus lives! He lives to turn tragedy to triumph! Amen.
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