‘Why are you crying?’ That’s the question that Mary Magdalene is asked, not once, but twice in our reading. Perhaps it’s a question that you’ve been asked yourself, as the tears have been flowing. Why are you crying?
If it’s not too painful, think back to the last time you cried. Perhaps it was in the hospital or doctor’s surgery. Maybe someone told you something you didn’t expect to hear. Perhaps you were overwhelmed by grief, or fear, or hopelessness, or a combination of all three. Maybe you stood by the grave of a loved one.
That’s where Mary was as our reading began. We’re still tracking the events of the first Easter morning. Last week we heard how she had gone to the tomb of Jesus early on, while it was still dark. When she’d arrived, she discovered that the stone had been removed from the entrance. Straight away she ran to get Peter and John. They had the race to the tomb, went in, saw the nearly empty tomb (just the grave clothes were there). But then they had gone home again.
Mary is still at the tomb, crying. So she decides to look inside. And what does she see inside? Verse 12: She ‘saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.’
And they have a question for her. ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ What’s the reason for your tears? What do you have to be crying for? So, she gives her answer, her reason: ‘They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.’ She doesn’t know where he is.
But notice that she thinks that Jesus is still dead. ‘They’ - whoever they are, have taken Jesus away, and i don’t know where they have put him. That’s the same summary she gave to Peter and John earlier in the morning - see verse 2.
Someone has obviously come and moved the body. Jesus must still be dead, lying in some other tomb, or some other place. Where can he be? Her tears are flowing because the body of Jesus has been removed.
With that, she turns around, and sees a man standing in the garden. She doesn’t realise who he is - but John tells us that it’s Jesus himself. And so, again, Mary is asked the exact same question. ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ Although Jesus also adds on an extra bit - was he trying to help her to realise who he was? He asks: ‘Who is it you are looking for?’ (15)
Mary still doesn’t recognise him. She reckons he must be the gardener. And so she answers in something the same way again: ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you put him, and I will get him.’ (15)
She wants to find Jesus, and yet she doesn’t realise that he’s standing in front of her - not a lifeless body, but a life-giving Saviour.
At this point, Jesus utters just one word. Her name. Mary. And instantly she recognises him. She realises that he has been in front of her that whole time. The he hasn’t been laid anywhere, because he isn’t dead any more. Jesus is alive - risen to new life, so that he will never again die. She bursts out with that response: ‘Rabboni! which means Teacher).’ And with that, she rushes to embrace him, to show her devotion to her Lord, now risen from the dead.
Jesus tells her not to hold onto him, because he hasn’t yet returned to the Father. Instead, Mary is sent with a message for the disciples. She’s the first to have met the risen Jesus, the first to witness the resurrection, the first to share the good news that Jesus is alive.
‘Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’
Entrusted with this message, Mary is the bearer of the good news of what Easter means for us. Because of what happened in the garden, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have a new status and a new relationship.
Jesus describes the disciples as ‘my brothers’ - we are included in his family, we are siblings with the Saviour. And if we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, then we are sons and daughters of the King. Jesus says: ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
Jesus was the only one who could truly call God ‘my Father’ and ‘my God.’ From before the beginning of time, from eternity past, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have existed, one God. But now, through his dying and rising, Jesus enables us to call God ‘our Father’ and ‘our God.’ It’s the fulfilment of when Jesus taught the disciples to pray: ‘Our Father...’ It’s truly possible now, because Jesus died for us and rose again to new life, to bring us into his family.
The garden is the place of transformation. Maybe you watch those sort of garden makeover programmes on TV. Beforehand, it’s all overgrown, with weeds and nettles, a real mess, just a jungle. And then the team get to work, and you see the progress being made until finally, it’s all done. There’s a little pond, and a patio area, and a range of plants, shrubs, and trees. The place has been transformed.
In the story of the Bible, the garden is also a place of transformation. In our first reading we heard of Eden. A garden paradise. The place where everything was good, good, and very good. The place where God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.
But that perfect paradise was marred forever. Adam and Eve believed the lie, took the fruit, and swallowed death. They hid from God. They blamed each other, and even blamed God. As a result, they were removed from the garden, separated from God, and suffered the effects of the curse. The perfect paradise became a place of thorns and thistles: ‘Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’ (Gen 3: 17-19)
Thorns and thistles. To dust you will return. And yet this garden is now the place of transformation. As Jesus was crucified, what adorned his head? A crown of ...? Thorns. Jesus bore the curse, and fulfilled the curse, by dying the death he did not deserve.
Jesus now lives, reversing the curse, again bringing us near to God, so that we can call him our Father and our God. The grave could not hold him. Death could not keep him. Jesus lives, and so we too will live with him. And where will we live? In the perfectly restored garden city, where the tree of life yields its fruit; where the river of the water of life flows. So why should Mary weep? Why should we weep? Mary is transformed, there are no more tears: ‘I have seen the Lord!’
We too, can believe her testimony. And when we do, we will receive the same promise - of life everlasting. Life that begins again, in the garden.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday 8th April 2018.
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