It was Friday afternoon, the crowds had returned to the city leaving the three crucified bodies a deterrent to all. Joseph of Arimathea went quickly to Pilate, and though fearful of what the Roman could yet do, he asked for permission to take care of the body of Jesus. This being granted, he quickly purchased a large quantity of white linen in which to wrap the corpse of Christ. At the same moment in another part of the city, Nicodemus the Pharisee, who also loved Jesus, was purchasing a large amount of myrrh and aloes, about 70 pounds in weight, which he would use with Joseph to help bury the Messiah. They took the body down from the cross, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were with them. At the tomb, which Joseph had purchased for his own family but now would be forever denied to him, they entered and began the task of wrapping the seventy pounds of myrrh and aloes into the wraps of linen. Around and around the body they wrapped until all was used, and like a great cocoon, they placed the bundled body into the carved recession in the center of the floor. They picked up their cloaks from the ledges at either side, took one last look at how low in the grave He lay, this Jesus, their Lord. Death lay heavy upon them. Then the stone rolled, and with a grinding thud, the day . . .
It was Friday afternoon, the crowds had returned to the city leaving the three crucified bodies a deterrent to all. Joseph of Arimathea went quickly to Pilate, and though fearful of what the Roman could yet do, he asked for permission to take care of the body of Jesus. This being granted, he quickly purchased a large quantity of white linen in which to wrap the corpse of Christ. At the same moment in another part of the city, Nicodemus the Pharisee, who also loved Jesus, was purchasing a large amount of myrrh and aloes, about 70 pounds in weight, which he would use with Joseph to help bury the Messiah. They took the body down from the cross, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were with them. At the tomb, which Joseph had purchased for his own family but now would be forever denied to him, they entered and began the task of wrapping the seventy pounds of myrrh and aloes into the wraps of linen. Around and around the body they wrapped until all was used, and like a great cocoon, they placed the bundled body into the carved recession in the center of the floor. They picked up their cloaks from the ledges at either side, took one last look at how low in the grave He lay, this Jesus, their Lord. Death lay heavy upon them. Then the stone rolled, and with a grinding thud, the day ended.
You cannot begin to talk about the resurrection until the stillness and finality of death have been felt. The stone is such a picture of death, immovable, impersonal, entombing. Once death happens there are no second chances, no amount of bravado or indifference can bring assurance. It is the door of the tomb, and when it is closed there no longer remains strength nor appeal to reverse it. When the sun went down on Good Friday, death was a certainty.
Sun rise, 36 hours later, early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, come back up the slope to the tomb. They were going unwrap and anoint the body, preparing it as the final ritual of burial. They knew they would be defiled because of handling the dead, an act which would render them unclean for seven days (Numbers 19), but resolutely they move towards the tomb. Read with me the account of what then took place, turn to John 20, verses 1-18.
Three women, two leaders of the Jewish Supreme Court, two defeated disciples, two angels? there is a lot of material here for character studies in how individuals respond to death. Wraps of linen cluttered with myrrh and aloes? and blood, a great stone flipped to the side of a vacant tomb, these too could lead to revealing investigations. But what better place for us to go than to the words of the One who moved through life, into death, into the judgment that comes after death, even a judgment that is to be levied against all mankind, a judgment waiting in the wings as it were, for there is not yet one single human soul in the final hell. Though in different places, both the righteous and the unrighteous dead were awaiting their final sentence, and if Christ had not died and taken their sin, paying the penalty of their sin, they would have all gone to the depths of an eternal hell. We would have done the same. Friends of yours and mine?will. Look and listen to the first words that Jesus says after rising from the dead.
I. Woman, Why Are You Weeping, Whom Are You Seeking?
These questions when taken in the immediate context are self-evident, they show Jesus recognizing her distress and even the cause of her distress. She is looking for the body of someone who was very close to her. But what was it that Jesus was leading her to discover, certainly not the location of a lifeless body. Where had Jesus just been, what had He just done, what had He just experienced?
He had for three hours experienced the placing of the penalty of the sin of all mankind upon Himself, from noon to three on Friday afternoon as He hung on the cross. Paul went so far as to say in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that, ?He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.? In Galatians 3:13 he said, ?Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us- for it is written, ?CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.? Jesus had experienced the imputing of sin upon Himself, He had then experienced death and in death the sin was atoned for, it was paid, it was sufficient to satisfy the holy wrath of God Almighty against the sinner who would seek refuge in such a Shelter. The human body of Jesus died and sin was propitiated and then the body that was perishable, the body with thorns embedded in it, the body covered in sweat and gashed with wounds, this body became imperishable, this mortality became immortality. Paul wrote the anthem to this in 1Corinthians 15:54, ?But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'death is swallowed up in Victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting??
The immortal, imperishable humanity of Christ was standing before Mary and saying, ?Weep no more, I am here and I have the keys of death and Hades.? Mary had been sealed in the tomb of belief in a finite God and Jesus was rolling back that stone!
II. Jesus Revealed His Presence by Calling Her Name.
This is just a brief point but it needs to be seen. Three times Mary had pled the statement, 'they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and I do not know where they have laid Him.? The essence of the cry is that she was seeking for Jesus with all her heart, she was trying to find Him, she was desperate to know where He was. In the end it was not she who found Jesus, but Jesus who found her. And how did the Mary who was lost become found of Jesus? it was when she searched for Him with every ounce of her heart and strength, it was when Jesus called her name, an unrecognizable Jesus but an unmistakable Jesus the moment He called her name. Mary was trapped in the tomb of belief in a Lord who could be separated from her by the actions of others and Jesus was rolling that stone aside. The actions of others can be very final, like death, they can assault you with fear and the horrible feeling of being alone. In one word, the word of your name, Jesus reveals that nothing can ever separate you from Him. He knows your name, your searching and wounded spirit He will not crush or snuff out. You will be found of Him as you seek Him with all your heart.
III. The Glory of Christ's Humanity Is Not To Be Taken As Familiarity.
Mary hears her name and responds, ?Rabboni?. It was a term that was given to only a very few Rabbi's and was often used as a reference to God. Mary recognizes the deity of Christ, but there is something wrong here. Jesus says, 'stop clinging to Me?. What had she been looking for? the body of Jesus?what had she known'the Son of Man who lived and walked among them and had cast out seven demons from her?what had she just found? the risen Lord Jesus Christ who is her Savior and is her Lord and God. It wasn't that touching Him was wrong, Jesus invited the disciples to do that, it was the old manner in which she wanted to cling to Him. Mary's familiarity with Christ needed to change. He was not going to stay amongst them as He had in the past, His deity was even now being unveiled. Mary had become trapped in the tomb of belief in a lesser God, one that existed for man-kinds? comfort, man-kinds? glory. Jesus came to roll away that stone, He came to declare the glory of the Father, even reflect the glory of the Father as they saw Him, their Redeemer? risen. Familiarity oversteps the bounds of relationship, you know that and know what it feels like when it has happened to you. Jesus establishes some new bounds for our relationship with God in these words to Mary. For the very first time He calls us ?brethren?, or ?brothers?. But this term is not meant to somehow level us with Jesus, as though suddenly He has ceased to be the Creator and we the created. Not at all, He alone is Almighty. Instead He defines that now we too are children of the Father through Him, children set free from the tombs of unbelief and the sin which so easily entangles? because He is Risen.
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