Jim Gill April 16, 2006
“Something About Mary”
John 20:1-18
INTRODUCTION
As the Premier of the Soviet Union Nikita Kruschev, gained world fame as the Communist leader who denounced Stalin's repressive tactics and for his brash, diplomatic style. He led the political and intellectual thaw of the 1950’s Cold Warn which resulted in the "rehabilitation" of thousands of political prisoners whom Stalin had imprisoned in Siberian labor camps. He reduced the power of the secret police by replacing the NKVD with the KGB and outlawed torture. Yet his reform had clear limits. Khrushchev cracked down on many religious groups and destroyed or closed down numerous churches.
At his death many years ago, a humorous story circulated in political circles. The Communist party had cast Mr. Kruschev aside was uncomfortable with the idea of burying his body on Soviet soil. They first called the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, and asked if the U.S. would take Kruschev’s corpse. Nixon had his own problems at the time and declined. Then the Soviet leaders tried Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel. Mrs. Meir was agreeable but she added, "I must warn you that this country has the world’s highest resurrection rate."
To date, that rate is 1. As I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, so far Jesus is the only one who has been resurrected. His friend Lazarus was only resuscitated. However, we have the hope that one day we all will experience the same resurrection body that Jesus experienced.
We gather this morning to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the risen and reigning lord of the universe and the savior of us all. Last Sunday we were treated to a musical tour of Jesus’ last week on earth in human form. Last Thursday night some of us gathered here to relive Jesus’ last night with his disciples, how he stooped to wash their feet setting an example of servanthood that would burn in their minds and set the pace for the rest of their ministries. We shared in the meal he instituted as Holy Communion and, like the disciples we sang a hymn and went out.
Earlier this morning I read passages that predicted how Jesus would die. What was unique about Jesus was that he not only fulfilled the prophesies about how he was to die, he himself prophesied about what would happen AFTER he died and he fulfilled those prophesies as well--talk about self-fulfilled prophecies! Serving not only as a priest and a king, Jesus also served us as a prophet, again and again telling his disciples that he would rise again on the third day.
Unlike the assertion of Dan Brown’s fictional tale called the Da Vinci Code’s, we gather to worship on this day, Sunday, the day of the Sun, not because the 4th century emperor Constantine moved the day of worship for the Christian church from Saturday, the day that the Hebrews celebrated the Sabbath, to Sunday in honor of the pagan god of the Sun. We gather to worship God this morning because this is the day that the Son of God rose from the dead! There is evidence that ever since that first “third day” the believers in Jesus began gathering to worship on Sunday to celebrate the risen Son that never sets!
Jesus is risen and he stayed risen every since that first third day. He is risen!
He is risen indeed! Hear the non fictional account of what happened that first third day morning. Hear the word of the Lord from John 20:1-18.
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There’s something about Mary. There’s certainly more about this Mary than a movie starring Cameron Diaz. There’s surely certainly more than is surmised by a work of fiction that “claims” it is accurate when it come to facts by Dan Brown.
Mary--the first person Jesus appeared to on that first third day was a woman named Mary. A woman named Mary was there when Jesus came from the womb. And a woman named Mary was there when Jesus came forth from the tomb. From womb to tomb and beyond, there was a Mary.
In those days, a woman's testimony was considered inferior to a man's and was inadmissible in a Jewish court of law. But the first eyewitness to the resurrection of Jesus was a woman named Mary.
Mary Magdalene was from a town with a bad reputation. Magdala was a small village, northwest of the Sea of Galilee. The Romans chose Magdala as a place to build one of their fortifications. Magdala was known for the soldiers who were stationed there. It was also known for its prostitutes who plied their trade around the soldiers.
Magdala was a town so steeped in sin and wild living that rabbis later attributed its fall to licentiousness. If Mary’s home town had had our Public Relations working for them they might have made popular the phrase, “What happens in Magdala stays in Magdala”
In Luke 8:2 we are told that Mary had been possessed by seven demons. Although Scripture does not specifically say so, many theologians assume that it was Jesus who healed Mary of her demon possession. That would account for her great loyalty to Him. When the New Testament speaks of demons it can be describing either a mental disorder or an immoral lifestyle. We don't know which referred to Mary. Popular tradition, however, has chosen the latter.
Why was the first witness to the most important event in history a woman with a history of demon possession who came from a town with a reputation for its great sinfulness? I believe God is saying something very powerful to us through Mary Magdalene about the meaning of the coming of Jesus Christ and his ministry and mission.
There is no record that Jesus ever visited Magdala. But he did visit the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). Simon probably lived in Capernaum, which was not far from Magdala. While Jesus was visiting Simon's house, a woman who had lived a sinful life brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood at Jesus' feet weeping, began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she stooped down and wiped his feet with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
I know some of you are grateful that this past Thursday night we didn’t have a foot-kissing ceremony.
Jesus said to this woman, "Your sins are forgiven." Was this woman Mary Magdalene? No one knows for certain, but many scholars believe it was. Within the context of this story, Jesus says that a person who has been forgiven much will love much. Certainly Mary was a living example of such a person.
The reason that some scholars think this woman may have been Mary Magdalene is that immediately after describing the scene at Simon's house Luke tells us about those who followed Jesus. He says that there were the disciples, of course, but also a group of women who, he says, "had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities." And he names them. The first name he mentions is Mary Magdalene. Luke adds two other names: Joanna, wife of a man named Cuza, one of Herod's officials, and a woman named Susanna, about whom we know nothing else.
These women, says Luke, were helping to support Jesus and the disciples out of their own means. Have you ever thought about that? We pay so much attention to the twelve men who follow Jesus, but it is these relatively unknown women who are paying the bills. Isn’t that the way it’s always been ladies?
Never is this clearer than on the day that Jesus was crucified. All of the men but John have deserted the Master and fled, but not the women. In Mark’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion he adds two new names to those who were faithful to the end, another Mary the mother of James, and a woman named Salome. He also mentions that many other women were there. And heading the list again was Mary Magdalene. The fact that Mary Magdalene is often mentioned first suggests she may have been the natural leader of the women.
There is another name that appears among those who stood at the foot of the cross: Mary, Jesus' mother. Her grief was undoubtedly the greatest of all.
It was Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, who were still there after the crucifixion when Joseph of Arimathea took Christ's body down from the cross. They were part of a small, sad procession that made its way to a waiting tomb. Their hearts were breaking. Their hopes were crushed.
On Sunday, which was their first day of the week, (their Monday,) that Mary Magdalene came again to the tomb, while it was still early. She could not let go of the one who had freed her from her bondage. It was still dark, but she could see that the stone was rolled away from the mouth of the tomb.
She ran from the open tomb to the place where the disciples were and told Peter and John, "They have stolen his body." They ran to the tomb and find that Mary has spoken correctly. Confused, the men return to their homes. Isn’t that like us guys? There’s nothing to see, let’s go home. But it was not so with Mary.
Mary is left alone at the tomb. Weeping she looks once more inside.
This time she sees two angels in white, sitting where Jesus' body had been. They say to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" Mary answers, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
Saying this, she turns around and her eyes are still clouded with tears. In the dimness of the early morning haze, the risen Jesus speaks to her but she does not recognize him. "Woman," he says to her, "why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?"
Mary thinks it is the gardener! Weeping she answers, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
At this, Jesus speaks the sweetest word that Mary will ever hear. It is her own name. "Mary," he says to her. And in a heartbeat Mary knows who is addressing her. "Rabboni," she answers, which means, "Teacher."
Dan Brown’s fictional work The Da Vinci Code purports that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were husband and wife. That is only natural given our society's obsession with physical love. But the facts dispute this notion. Notice, in this most intimate and emotion-laden moment, Mary does not call Jesus by name. She uses a formal term, Teacher.
To me this proves that they were not married. In our almost 30 years of marriage my wife has never called me teacher or Lord or even Rabbi.
Isn't it interesting that in the most dramatic moment of history--the first appearance of the resurrected Christ--he did not make his appearance to Peter or one of the twelve--he did not make his appearance to the High Priest or Pontius Pilate--he made his first appearance to this woman Mary from Magdala.
Friends, THIS IS THE GOSPEL! Jesus’ resurrection is not only about life beyond the grave. It is about the new life of Grace and Acceptance that is available here and now. This is the powerful statement that God is making to us through Mary from Magdala: Whoever you are and whatever your background may be--the Gospel is for you!
Perhaps you are standing today at the tomb of a dead relationship, or of dead hopes and dreams. Life has been a severe disappointment to you. You've tried to get your life together, but you've found nothing but failure and frustration. You're about to give up. Friend, this is a day of Resurrection!
Jesus is speaking your name, just as he spoke Mary's name two thousand years ago. This is the Sunday, more than any Sunday of the year, that we celebrate new possibilities. This is the day we affirm our faith in God, when we affirm our faith in Jesus Christ, when we affirm our faith in hope without end.
There once was a man named George who was accustomed to driving his wife, Rosie, to church every Sunday. And every Sunday, they parked in the same spot. George and Rosie had been married for forty years and they loved each other very deeply. They did everything together. They were inseparable in almost every area of their life, except one. When George drove his wife to church Rosie went in and George remained in the car where he would read the Sunday paper.
Rosie died, and for many Sundays after, church members looked wistfully at the parking lot because George's car was no longer seen there. Several months later though, on Easter Sunday, George's car appeared again, and George went into church.
The preacher delivered a stirring resurrection sermon and then, as was his custom, invited the members of the congregation to respond. No sooner had the words left his mouth than George stood up and with deep emotion said firmly, "Rosie lives!" And then he began to sing: "My wild Irish Rose, the sweetest flower that grows . . ." One person joined in, then another, and another. Finally, everyone present was joyfully singing what someone later described as "The most beautiful hymn ever sung in our church."
Rosie lives, because Jesus lives! And Because He lives we have the unshakable hope that even when the day comes that we will leave this life that came to be when we left the womb. …that we will live on beyond the tomb.
The message that this day broadcasts loud and clear is that we all have an older brother who HAS traveled beyond the womb and even beyond the TOMB, and has returned to assure us that God loves us--that God loves people like Mary and Marie, and Anne and Johanna and Raissa and Rynn and Scott and Steven, and everyone in between, The message of this morning is that having been raised, our older brother has gone to prepare a place for us and for all who will accept the good news, whether their names are Peter or John or Lilly or George or Rose....or Mary.
