St John-at-Hampstead
Easter Sunday, 31 March 2024
John 20: 1-18
St John liked to write about things being ‘seen’—it was one
of his recurring themes—and the idea of ‘seeing’ runs
strongly through the Gospel reading today. You may have
registered lots of references to seeing or looking. I think I
counted seven, and it’s helpful to look at them in the light
of the Easter message, and what it might mean for us. On a
special feast like Easter—it can sometimes be easy to let
the words just ‘wash over us’, simply because they are so
familiar to us.
First we are told that the disciples saw that the stone had
been removed from the tomb. Things are not always as
they seem. This was not what the disciples had expected to
see when they came to the tomb the day after the death of
Jesus. In fact, they had not anticipated the terrible events
of the previous days, despite Jesus’s teaching. They were
not ready for his betrayal at the hands of Judas, the trial,
the brutal scourging and walk to Calvary, the slow agony of
death on the Cross. Things were not as they had thought
they would be.
Sometimes life can throw difficulties and obstacles in our
way, we find it difficult to decide which way to go or what
to do and we can feel helpless. Like the disciples we
sometimes need to begin to see things differently, we need
to be ready to open our eyes and see—to watch for the
opportunities that might come our way. To be ready to
cooperate with God’s action in the world.
We all react differently to the surprises that life throws our
way. We see this clearly in the disciples—Simon Peter and
the Beloved Disciple John. They both rush to the tomb,
and we are told that the Beloved Disciple is the faster
runner. He gets there first and he saw that the stone had
been rolled away from the tomb. Next comes Simon Peter,
who is not so nimble on his feet as the Beloved Disciple.
He must have peered into the tomb, because we are told
that he saw the linen wrappings. So he must have
acknowledged that the tomb was empty, but it is clear that
he still did not understand.
It is the Beloved Disciple who saw and believed. The
evidence was there but they are unsure and hesitant—it
takes them time to figure out what is going on, and they
respond to what they see in different ways. John—the
Beloved Disciple—rushes ahead but he loses his nerve, he
doesn’t enter straight away, but instead he bends down and
peers in. Simon Peter is more bold. This is typical of Peter.
It is this boldness, this recklessness of Peter, that equips
him to proclaim the Good News in the future.
When the Beloved Disciple finally enters he sees and
believes, even though he does not yet understand what is
happening. Faith comes before understanding—faith is a
gift of God. To witness to the Gospel (as we are called to
do) we will need Peter’s boldness coupled with John’s faith.
Even though we may not fully understand the mysteries of
God, it is our faith that will nourish us as we go forward
together.
We hear that Mary Magdalene saw two angels in white.
The angel messengers—who announced to the Virgin that
she was to be the mother of God, who reassured Joseph
that he could take Mary as his wife, who announced to the
shepherds that the Saviour had been born—they again
carry the news of salvation. They carry the story, from
incarnation to resurrection, from the child in the manger
to the man risen from the dead.
Mary Magdalene, confused and startled by these heavenly
visitors, alone stays and weeps. Though she desperately
longs for her Teacher, she failed to recognise him when he
stood before her. This might seem strange to us but Mary
Magdalene was one of the women who saw Jesus’s lifeless
body taken down from the Cross, when his disciples had
fled in fear. She saw this with her own eyes and she
certainly did not expect to see Jesus alive again. How often
do we fail to recognise Jesus in those around us—in the
people we meet, in the scripture, in the bread and wine.
Jesus makes himself known to Mary Magdalene and he
continues to make himself known to us today.
Jesus then tasks Mary with a message to deliver to the
apostles, she announces to the disciples ‘I have seen the
Lord’—the woman now known as the ‘apostle to the
apostles’ preaches the first sermon on the first Easter Day.
She saw, she believed and she announced. She was not
ordained, she had not gone on a Lent or Advent Course, a
Pilgrim course, an Alpha Course or a retreat. All she
needed was for Jesus to tell her to ‘Go to my brothers and
tell them’. Jesus makes himself known to Mary Magdalene
and he continues to make himself known to us today.
In St John’s gospel account the calling of the disciples
includes an invitation from Jesus to ‘come and see’. On this
Easter morning we are called—like the disciples—to come
and see. And—like Mary Magdalene and the disciples—
now that we have seen we are also called to go and tell.
Mary Magdalene saw, then went and told. We too are
called to share the Good News of Jesus’s death and
resurrection, the news which means life for all people.
Alleluia, He is Risen!
He is Risen indeed, Alleluia…