Easter Sunrise
John 20:1-18
Why Are You Weeping?
I suppose there are times when such a question might seem pertinent, when it is not so obvious why a woman might be weeping. But if you are in a cemetery and you were to see somebody weeping, do you think you would have to ask them why? If we were to find a woman weeping near a grave, especially one that looks new, we wouldn’t be so crass as to ask her why she might be weeping. We would know why. Or, we would at least assume to know why. She obviously had just lost somebody that she loved, somebody dear to her, somebody that she truly misses. It is not an unreasonable emotion. In fact, we would wonder why a loved one does not weep at the recently sealed grave. If we were to ask, we would be accused of all kinds of insensitivity.
Was it insensitive of the angels sitting in the tomb to ask Mary why she was weeping? Or, since they are angels and don’t know what sorrow is, do you think they just didn’t understand? I think it is entirely something different for both of these. They both knew that Jesus had taught and explained that He would die, in fact, would have to die, but that He would also rise. Now if Mary had been listening, then she should have known that Jesus wouldn’t be in the tomb. Of course He would be gone because He was to rise. And if she had really been listening, then she would have no reason to weep, for Jesus wasn’t dead as she supposed. He wasn’t taken away by somebody and laid elsewhere. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I don’t imagine Mary stopped weeping right away but I expect that her tears turned from tears of sorrow to tears of joy when she recognized Jesus. She probably continued to weep for joy as she made her way to the place where the disciples were hiding out. Seeing Jesus turned her mourning into dancing. She no longer had any reason to weep for mourning’s sake but she had every reason now to weep as she danced. Her reason for sorrow was taken away at the sight and recognition of her Lord. It was more than her emotions that were transformed. Her entire being was lifted up; mind, body, and spirit. Now she knew and understood. Now her faith was confident. We might even say, that in that moment, she no longer had faith or needed faith to believe that Jesus lives, she had the sight that we long for, that beautiful vision of the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
It is the beautiful vision that we long for, the image of our Lord with the marks of battle upon Him and the sheen of victory that we desire to behold. We would like for our tears of mourning to be ended and our dancing tears of joy to be constant. We long for the day when our visits to the graves of those whom we have loved are found to have been opened and emptied, not because we would suspect any foul play but we know that He who has conquered death and the grave, He who has buried sin, He who has defeated devil, has raised them with Him. Until that day, we must believe that it shall be so. We must have faith that Jesus will come again. That just as we confess in the Creed, all the dead shall rise and all that believe in Christ shall have eternal life.
But what kind of an Easter is it when the Christian faithful cannot meet together in person? How do we put away our mourning and take hold of the joy that should be ours when we are not all together to receive the body and blood of that same Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar? We can because we have been baptized into the death of Jesus that we proclaim until He comes and into His resurrection that leads to a newness of life. We live the new life now where we have been freed from the passions of the flesh and given the faith to live as those who have seen and tasted that the Lord is good.
I didn’t include our catechetical reading in the liturgy today but you will find it in your copy of Redeemer at Prayer. It is the Fourth Part of Holy Baptism, which reads: “What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Where is this written? St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: ‘We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.’” (Ro 6:4)
We mark a particular day each year in which we celebrate the day in which Jesus rose from the dead as we have anniversaries for all manner of things from birthdays and marriages to independence and the honoring of veterans. But when it comes to the resurrection of our Lord, it is to be a daily part of our lives. We still mark today as Easter, that day, which is not fixed by date yet occurs each year according to the moon’s cycle but in reality, it is to be celebrated everyday as we rise from our beds and face a day in the knowledge of Christ’s resurrection and the faith that we too have been raised with Him. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
It is unfortunate that we cannot gather together to celebrate the Feast but that does not mean that it has not happened and that there is reason to weep in mourning. You have been baptized into Christ, into His body, the Church, where is a mystical union between the Bride and her Bridegroom. Resurrection is yours already as it is His and you are called to live in that resurrection now and in its joy. The tears that come from joy are optional but the joy that comes from knowing that Christ lives and that we too now live comes from faith, a faith that rests upon the sure testimony of Mary, the Apostles, and countless others who have declared the victory over death in Jesus Christ, who is risen from death and who is no longer in the grave. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is rise indeed! Alleluia!