Today is Easter Sunday, and it’s a day when we get to enjoy some Easter eggs! Has anyone had any Easter egg yet this morning? Maybe after dinner you’ll be able to eat some!
Today I’ve brought along some Easter eggs to help us tell the story of Easter. We were doing that yesterday at the rectory, but not everyone was able to make it. So here are some Easter eggs to tell the story.
Here’s the first one. (Open it - what’s inside?) We have a cross inside. Jesus died on a cross on the first Good Friday. He died to take away our sins, all the wrong things we have done. But that isn’t the end of the story.
In the second one, what do we find? (Open it) We have a stone. When Jesus died, he was buried in a tomb - a cave. A big stone was rolled in front of the tomb to seal it.
Here’s the third one. What’s in it? It’s empty. Why is this empty? It’s because the tomb was empty. Jesus was raised from the dead, he wasn’t in the tomb any longer. Jesus is not dead - he is alive, and he gives us his new life for us to share in.
Now I have one more Easter egg. Can anyone guess what might be inside it? ... Inside we find some glasses, spectacles. Now why do we have some glasses inside this last egg?
What do you use glasses for? To see! And our Bible reading today is all about seeing. We hear about Mary Magdalene, and Simon Peter, and the other disciple (who is John himself, the author of this book of the Bible). So let’s see what they saw!
In verse 1 we’re told what Mary saw. She ‘went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.’ The big massive stone that was in front of the tomb - it had been rolled away. That’s what Mary saw. The tomb was open. So she ran and told Peter and John.
Do you ever have races with your friends? Maybe at school. And sports day will be coming up in the summer term. Well, Peter and John had a race. They ran to the tomb. Peter was older, John was younger, and John must have been a wee bit competitive. He makes sure that we know that he made it to the tomb first (4). John says - I won the race! I’m faster than Peter!
John made it there first, but didn’t go inside. Maybe he was afraid. But he bent down and looked in. And what did he see? ‘He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.’ (5)
Then Peter arrives, and goes on in. Verse 6 tells us what he saw: ‘He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that he been around Jesus’ head.’
now, we think of the tomb being empty. That’s even what the New International publishers have put as a wee heading at the top of the section. ‘The Empty Tomb.’ But John and Peter both see something inside the tomb. It’s not entirely empty. What did they see?
The strips of linen. Now, we need a volunteer. You see, in those days, the person who had died would be wrapped in strips of linen, with spices packed into the binding. I’ve brought along some strips of... toilet roll. And we’re going to wrap you.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he didn’t need the grave clothes any more. He didn’t need the strips of linen, so he left them behind. And that’s what Peter and John saw - the strips of linen lying in the not quite empty tomb.
The strips of linen were there, but Jesus wasn’t there. He’s alive. He is risen from the dead. And that means that we too will live with him.
Right at the end of verse 8, we’re told that John ‘saw and believed.’ He still didn’t understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead, but he did believe that Jesus had done it.
My Easter eggs remind us that, in the words of the creed we’ll use shortly, ‘Christ died for our sins... he was buried... he was raised.’ Mary saw the stone rolled away. Peter and John saw the linen strips, left behind when Jesus rose to new life. Next Sunday morning, we’ll see what else Mary saw that first Easter morning. But we can rejoice today, because Jesus is alive!
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church on Easter Sunday 1st April 2018 at the Easter Family Celebration.
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