The Lord’s Message:   Empty Tomb

The Lord’s Message:   Empty Tomb
Date:  April 5, 2026
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  John 20: 1-18

            God is a god of justice and grace.  Every time humanity thinks it has God figured out, God rewrites the script.  At the creation of the world, God took a world that was chaotic and brought order to it.  God took a young shepherd boy and made him king.  God took a Samaritan woman who had relationship problems and confirmed to her that He was the Messiah, so that she could tell others the good news.  God took the cross, the symbol of the cruelest form of punishment reserved for the most harden of criminals, and made it a symbol of salvation and grace.  What do you think God would do with grave or a tomb?

            Let us pray.

            In John 20:1, we learned about Mary Magdalene going to the tomb and finding that the stone has been rolled away.  In Mark 16:1, Mark tells us that it was just not Mary Magdalene, but also Mary the mother of James, and Salome.  A total of three women, there may have been more.  In Mark 16:2-3, we learned that as they are going to the tomb where Jesus lay they were questioning who could roll away the stone that was sealing the tomb.  In Matthew 28:2, we learned that as these women were journeying to the tomb, a mighty earthquake occurred.  This earthquake was caused by an angel.  In Matthew 28:5, the angel tells the women not to be afraid.  Jesus has risen.  Go and see the place where Jesus laid. 

            John does not mention any of this, as a matter fact in John, in verse 2, Mary Magdalene does not know where Jesus is.  Maybe, it was her grief that kept her from accepting what the angel had told her, that Jesus was risen.  It is like when the doctor tells the patient that your cancer is gone.  The patient has a hard coming to grips with the doctor’s diagnosis.  They have wanted the cancer to be gone, but it can be a shock and hard to belief, is the cancer truly gone?  Is Jesus truly risen?  Mary Magdalene has seen Jesus do a lot of miracles, including removing seven demons from her.  Is Jesus truly risen?  I need more proof.  Let me go to Peter and John and tell them. 

            In verses 3-4, Peter and John go to the tomb and look inside.  In verses 5-9, they believed that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb.  They did not believe that Jesus had risen, even though Jesus had told them this.  Jesus told them this many times.  One example is found in Luke 18:31-34. At this time, Peter and John still do not believe that Jesus has risen from the dead. 

            One important note, which the writer John tells us about, is the arrangement of burial cloth and linens.  The burial cloth was folded by itself, away from the linen, suggesting that this was not a panicked or rushed event, but one that had been carried out in deliberate order.  Thieves would not have gone to the trouble to neatly fold or place garments.  There was also a tradition between the servant and the master.  When the servants brought the meal, the master would place a napkin on his lap.  If the master was interrupted in the meal and would not return, he would take the napkin and crumple it up on his plate.  If the master, thought that he was returning, the master would fold the napkin and place it next to his plate.  The folded burial cloth means that Jesus knows He is going to return one day.

            At this point no one believes that Jesus has risen from the dead.  They only believe that Jesus’ body is missing from the tomb.  Mary Magdalene returns to the tomb.  This time when she looks in the tomb, in verses 11-12, she sees two angels.  One angel is seated where Jesus’ head would have been and the other where His feet would have been.  These angels hear and sees the woman crying.  So, in verse 13a, they asked her why she is crying.  She tells them, in verse 13b, “They have taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they have put him.”  Notice how the angels do not scold her for not believing what Jesus had told all of His disciples that He would rise on the third day.  This is a loving and comforting exchange between Mary Magdalene and the angels of God. 

            If you thought the angels were loving and comforting, let us see how Jesus loves and comforts Mary Magdalene.  In verse 14 Mary Magdalene, in her state of grief, does not realize that she is looking at the Resurrected Jesus.  Jesus in verse 15a asked her the same question that the angels did, “Woman, why are you crying?”  Then Jesus asked her another question, “Who are you looking for?” In the stressed-out times of our lives, we might not know who we should turn to.  Some of us may turn to ourselves or another person, where we should be turning to God.  Some of us may be trying to turn to God, but God seems far off in the distance, when God is near us.  Mary Magdalene seems to be in one of these two states.  She has turned to Peter and John, but they have not helped her.  She thinks Jesus is far away when He is standing right in front of her.  So, she thinks the person who is speaking to her is the gardener.  In verse 15b, she asked Jesus, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  How in the world is Mary going to carry a decaying corpse?  Mary Magdalene is not thinking straight.  In her grief-stricken condition, she only wants to find Jesus. 

            Jesus only has to say one word for the curtain of grief on Mary to disappear.  What is that one word?  Mary does not need a lecture about death.  She does not need to hear scripture being recited to her.  She simply needs to hear her name being called.  Jesus calls out to her in a loving voice, “Mary.”  It is like the whole veil of grief instantly falls off.  Mary responds with “Rabboni.”  The Bible says that this means in Aramaic, teacher.”  Actually, the proper translation is not simply teacher, but “My Teacher.”  Jesus is my teacher.  Jesus is my Lord and Savior. 

            Now the next part of this has many different interpretations.  Mary Magdalene’s reaction is to grab hold of Jesus.  I believe that we would all want to do that.  Many people have told me that the greatest loss they have suffered with their loved one dying is the loss of physical touch.  During the Covid virus, a know of a court case where a daughter had to put a nursing home on trial, because the nursing home would not allow her to go in to see and hold her mother’s hand as she was dying.  She won the case.  Not only was she allowed to go in, but so was I.  The nursing home simply moved her to a room next to the outside exit and put a plastic barrier up from the other rooms.  We had to swear to not wander past that plastic shield.  I think that during the Covid virus, our greatest loss was not to be around our loved ones to touch them.  I remember when I was able to hug my dad.  It was the greatest feeling.  Mary Magdalene wants to hold on to Jesus and never let Him go. 

            Jesus has to tell her in verse 17 to stop holding on to Him because He needs to go.  She also needs to go and spread the word, especially to the disciples, that Jesus is alive.  In verse 18 that is what she does. 

            This is how God responds to a grave.  Death is not the end.  Death has been defeated.  An empty tomb is proof that the love of God overcomes death.  A tomb that is a symbol of the end, becomes the passage into eternity. 

            John 3:16-17.  He is coming back for all those that believe that Jesus is the Son of God and repent of their sins.  An empty tomb is proof that God’s love never ends.  That is why we celebrate Easter.  Jesus Has Risen.  He has Risen, indeed!  Happy Easter, everyone! 

Keep listening to God and do what He says.  Amen.