EASTER CHANGES EVERYTHING

John 20:1-18

Rev. Paul Wrightman                                                                  4/20/25

MANY PEOPLE EXPRESS SURPRISE AT JOHN UPDIKE’S POEM

SEVEN STANZAS AT EASTER, THE POEM THAT YOU HEARD

AT THE BEGINNING OF TODAY’S SERVICE.

FIRST, THEY’RE SURPRISED TO LEARN

THAT SUCH A MODERN, SEEMINGLY SECULAR AUTHOR AS UPDIKE

WAS A PRACTICING CHRISTIAN.

SECOND, THEY CAN TELL BY THE POEM’S REFERENCES

TO MOLECULES, AMINO ACIDS, AND MAX PLANCK

THAT UPDIKE WAS NOT A FUNDAMENTALIST.

THIRD, THEY CAN ALSO TELL THAT UPDIKE

CONSIDERS THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS

AS CRUCIAL TO THE MEANING OF EASTER,

THE MEANING OF JESUS, AND THE MEANING OF CHRISTIANITY.

FAR TOO OFTEN, I FIND MAINLINE AND SO-CALLED PROGRESSIVE CHURCHES EMBARRASSED BY THE PHYSICALITY OF EASTER

EXPRESSED IN THE GOSPELS AND IN THE LETTERS OF ST. PAUL.

MANY OF THESE CHURCHES DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO TURN 

EASTER INTO A MYTH, OR INTO SOMETHING THAT MERELY

HAPPENED IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE DISCIPLES.

SADLY, IN DOING SO THEY MISS ONE OF THE MOST RADICAL CLAIMS

OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, WHICH IS THAT IN JESUS’

BODILY RESURRECTION THE PHYSICAL AND THE SPIRITUAL

BECOME INEXTRICABLY ONE.

THIS HAS ENORMOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR EACH OF US,

SINCE JESUS TEACHES THAT HIS BODILY RESURRECTION

BECOMES THE TEMPLATE UPON WHICH THE RESURRECTION

OF EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS BASED.

(PAUSE)

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT SOME SPECIFICS

IN TODAY’S MAGNIFICENT EASTER TEST.

LET’S STEP INTO THE TEXT OURSELVES AS WITNESSES

OF WHAT HAPPENED THAT FIRST EASTER MORNING.

THE VERY FIRST WORD OF OUR TEST, THE WORD “EARLY,”

REFERS TO THE TECHNICAL GREEK WORD FOR THE LAST

OF THE FOUR WATCHES INTO WHICH THE NIGHT WAS DIVIDED,

THAT WHICH RAN FROM 3am TO 6 am.

MARY MAGDALENE’S DEVOTION TO JESUS WAS SO INTENSE

THAT SHE SIMPLY COULD NOT STAY AWAY,

BUT HAD TO GET UP BEFORE THE BREAK OF DAWN

TO MOURN AT HIS TOMB.

SHE IS STUNNED AT WHAT SHE SEES.

THE LARGE STONE BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE TO THE TOMB

HAS BEEN MOVED.  MARY IS SO SHOCKED

THAT SHE DOESN’T EVEN LOOK INTO THE TOMB.

SHE SIMPLY ASSUMES THAT THE BODY OF JESUS

HAS BEEN REMOVED AND RUNS OFF TO TELL PETER AND JOHN.

SEE PETER AND JOHN RUNNING TO THE TOMB, JOHN,

PROBABLY STILL A TEENAGER, OUTPACING THE MIDDLE-AGED PETER.

JOHN HESITATES AT THE ENTRANCE.

PETER, TRUE TO CHARACTER, RUSHES IN.

THEY BOTH SEE THE LINEN WRAPPINGS

LYING WHERE THE BODY OF JESUS HAD BEEN.

IF SOMEONE HAD REMOVED THE BODY OF JESUS,

IF TOMB-ROBBERS HAD BEEN AT WORK,

WHY WOULD THEY LEAVE THE GRAVE-CLOTHES?

JOHN WAS QUICK TO PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER,

QUICKER THAN PETER,

AND QUICKER THAN MOST OF US WOULD CARE TO BE.

JOHN SAW THAT THE GRAVE-CLOTHES

WERE NOT DISHEVELED AND DISARRANGED.

THEY WERE LYING THERE STILL IN THEIR FOLDS –

THE CLOTHES FOR THE BODY WHERE HIS BODY HAD BEEN;

THE HEAD-WRAPPINGS WHERE HIS HEAD HAD BEEN.

THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS DESCRIPTION

IS THAT THE GRAVE-CLOTHES DID NOT LOOK

AS IF THEY HAD BEEN PUT OFF OR TAKEN OFF;

THEY WERE LYING THERE IN THEIR REGULAR FOLDS

AS IF THE BODY OF JESUS HAD SIMPLY EVAPORATED OUT OF THEM.

THE MEANING OF THIS SIGHT SUDDENLY PENETRATED

JOHN’S HEART AND MIND. 

HE SENSED WHAT HAD HAPPENED – AND HE BELIEVED.

WHAT HE SAW WITH HIS OWN EYES CONVINCED HIM.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE AT THIS POINT

THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL WORDS IN GREEK FOR “SEEING,”

INCLUDING A WORD FOR SEEING IN TERMS OF AN INTERIOR VISION

THAT WAS NOT CONNECTED TO AN OUTSIDE REALITY.

THIS IS NOT THE WORD THAT THE WRITERS OF THE GOSPELS –

MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN – USE,

OR FOR THAT MATTER, ST. PAUL.

THEY CONSISTENTLY USE THE WORD FOR “SEEING”

WHICH MEANS TO SEE SOMETHING OUTSIDE ONESELF,

NOT MERELY IN THE REALM OF INTERIOR VISIONS.

SO THE CLAIM OF THE GOSPELS AND OF ST. PAUL

IS THAT THE RESURRECTION

IS SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED,

THAT WAS AN ACTUAL HISTORICAL OCCURRENCE,

AND NOT SIMPLY WISHFUL THINKING

ON THE PART OF THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS.

PETER AND JOHN GO BACK HOME,

PETER PROBABLY DEEPLY PUZZLED AND DISTURBED,

JOHN REJOICING THAT SOMETHING

TRULY REALITY-CHANGING HAS HAPPENED.

BY NOW MARY HAS RETURNED AND STANDS WEEPING

OUTSIDE THE TOMB.  BETWEEN HER EYES

BEING CLOUDED WITH TEARS AND THE TWILIGHT GREYNESS,

SHE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE JESUS AT FIRST –

NOT UNTIL HE CALLS HER NAME.

THIS IS A VERSE OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR ALL OF US,

BECAUSE JESUS CALLS EACH OF US BY NAME.

AT THE END OF OUR TEXT, JESUS COMMISSIONS MARY

TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH THE MALE DISCIPLES,

BUT WE KNOW FROM LUKE’S GOSPEL THAT THEY WROTE OFF

HER TESTIMONY AS THAT OF AN HYSTERICAL WOMAN.

EVEN WHEN JESUS PHYSICALLY APPEARED TO THEM

THAT FIRST EASTER EVENING, THEY WERE SCARED WITLESS,

THINKING HIM A GHOST, AND COULD NOT BELIEVE HE WAS REAL

UNTIL HE HAD EATEN SOME FISH.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS OVERTURNED

MANY OF THE PREVAILING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LIFE AND REALITY

CURRENT IN HIS TIME – AND OUR TIME.

THIS EVENT IS GOD’S AFFIRMATION OF THE PERSON

WHO TAUGHT AND LIVED UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

IT WAS GOD’S ULTIMATE AFFIRMATION

THAT AT THE HEART AND CENTER OF REALITY,

IN THE INMOST CORE OF GOD,

IS UNQUENCHABLE LOVE AND UNQUENCHABLE LIFE.

BUT LET ME GET PERSONAL.

I’M MORE LIKE DOUBTING THOMAS THAN TRUSTING JOHN

BY NATURE.  I’M A PERSON WHO NEEDS

SOME PRETTY STRONG EVIDENCE TO BELIEVE SOMETHING AS

WILDLY IMPROBABLE AS THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

LET ME SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE REASONS

THAT PUSHED ME TO THE CONCLUSION

THAT THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE

IS STRONGLY ON THE SIDE OF BELIEF RATHER THAN SKEPTICISM.

JESUS STANDS OUT AS A SINGULARITY IN LIFE;

I’M NO LONGER SURPRISED THAT HIS DEATH

WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A SINGULARITY AS WELL.

THE RAWNESS AND EYEWITNESS DETAILS

OF THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS STAND OUT

AS SOMETHING UNIQUE IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE.

TO BE SURE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER RESURRECTION STORIES

IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.  BUT ALL THE REST OF THEM

ARE VERY VAGUE AND VERY GENERAL,

AND TAKE PLACE IN THE SIGNIFICANT, BUT NON-HISTORICAL

WORLD OF MYTH.

AS YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF,

OUR SCRIPTURE READING IS NOT THE LANGUAGE OF MYTH,

BUT LANGUAGE STRETCHED TO ITS LIMITS

IN ITS ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE AN INEXPLICABLE SIGHT

(THE GRAVE-CLOTHES STILL IN THEIR FOLDS, LIKE A MUMMY,

BUT NO BODY WITHIN) AND A NUMINOUS ENCOUNTER

BETWEEN MARY AND THE RISEN JESUS.

IN OTHER GOSPEL ACCOUNTS, WE ARE TOLD ABOUT

THE WOUNDS OF JESUS STILL BEING VISIBLE,

HIS ABILITY TO SIMPLY PASS THROUGH LOCKED DOORS,

AND THE STUNNING FUSION OF THE MATERIAL AND THE SPIRITUAL

IN HIS RESURRECTION BODY.

AGAIN, THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THIS IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE.

REMEMBER THAT SCIENCE FICTION WAS NOT INVENTED

AS A FORM OF LITERATURE UNTIL THE 1800’S.

I FIND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ODDITY

OF THESE DETAILS UNLESS THEY WERE THE RAW, UNADORNED

ACCOUNTS OF WHAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAW AND HEARD.

WRITERS LIKE J.R.R. TOLKIEN AND C.S. LEWIS – BOTH OF WHOM

AFFIRMED THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS –

UNDERSTAND THE MULTITUDE OF RESURRECTION MYTHS

IN THE ANCIENT WORLD IN A POSITIVE WAY AS EXPRESSIONS

OF OUR DEEPEST HUMAN LONGINGS,

LONGINGS WHICH ARE FINALLY FULFILLED

IN THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

THE FACT THAT WOMEN ARE THE FIRST AND FOREMOST WITNESSES TO THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION IS FANTASTICAL

BEYOND BELIEF IF THE STORY IS A MADE-UP ONE.

GIVEN WOMEN’S THIRD-RATE STATUS IN THAT CULTURE

AT THAT TIME, THE FACT THAT THEY WERE CONSIDERED

TOO INFERIOR TO SERVE AS WITNESSES IN COURT,

AND THE FACT THAT MANY MALES OF THAT DAY

BEGAN THEIR MORNING PRAYERS WITH THE STATEMENT,

“HOLY ONE, KING OF THE UNIVERSE, I THANK YOU

THAT I WAS NOT BORN A WOMAN” – THE FACT THAT

ALL FOUR GOSPELS UNABASHEDLY PLACE THE WOMEN WITNESSES

IN FIRST PLACE STRONGLY TESTIFIES TO THE HISTORICAL REALITY

OF THEIR TESTIMONY.

THERE WERE PLENTY OF OTHER MARTYRED PROPHETS

BOTH BEFORE AND DURING THE TIME OF JESUS.

THE NORMAL, STANDARD PROCEDURE WOULD BE FOR

THE FOLLOWER OF A MARTYRED PROPHET

TO BUILD A MEMORIAL OF SOME KIND

AND GET ON WITH THEIR LIVES – NOT TO DROP EVERYTHING

AND TO CARRY THE MESSAGE OF THEIR LEADER

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

CHRISTIANITY BECAME THE FASTEST GROWING RELIGION

OUR PLANET HAS EVER KNOWN, LARGELY BECAUSE

BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION EMPOWERED ITS FOLLOWERS

TO LIVE THEIR LIVES AS JESUS HAD LIVED HIS.

ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS PEOPLE FROM ALL SOCIAL CLASSES

AND ALL WALKS OF LIFE IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE RESONATED

WITH THE EARLY CHURCH WAS THAT IT EMBODIED

THE COMPASSION OF JESUS TOWARD THOSE WHO WERE

MOST VULNERABLE.

FOOD, SHELTER, ACCEPTANCE, AND HOPE WERE GIVEN

FREELY AND ABUNDANTLY TO THOSE IN NEED

BY THOSE WHO EMBRACED THE NAME “CHRISTIAN.”

EVEN WHEN THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH

BECAME MORE AND MORE LIKE THE EMPIRE,

COMPASSION CONTINUED TO BE EMBODIED

IN THE LIFE OF MONASTIC COMMUNITIES.

COMPASSION TOWARD THE VULNERABLE

BECAME ONE OF THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

OF THE WESTERN WORLD, AND PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART

IN THE FORMATION OF MODERN DEMOCRACIES,

VERY MUCH INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES.

TODAY IN OUR COUNTRY WE ARE WITNESSING

AN ECLIPSE OF COMPASSION, AND CHRISTIANS

ARE CALLED TO CHALLENGE THIS COLLAPSE.

CHRISTIAN REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS, INDEPENDENTS,

AND LIBERTARIANS NEED TO ENGAGE WITH THE POWERS THAT BE

TO INSURE THAT COMPASSION AS A VALUE IS NOT LOST.

I’M THINKING SPECIFICALLY OF TWO PROGRAMS HERE:

USAID AND MEDICAD.

USAID HAS ALREADY BEEN DISCONTINUED, PUTTING THE LIVES

OF MILLIONS OF VULNERABLE CHILDREN AT RISK

BECAUSE THEY WILL NO LONGER BE RECEIVING

FOOD AND MEDICAL HELP.

SOME IN OUR GOVERNMENT WANT TO DRASTICALLY CUT

MEDICAID, WHICH WOULD HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON MILLIONS

OF VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND DISABLED ADULTS

RIGHT HERE IN THE STATES.

ONE POPULAR ARGUMENT FOR CLOSING THE DOOR

ON BOTH THESE PROGRAMS IS THAT THE UNITED STATES

NO LONGER WANTS TO BE BURDENED

WITH THOSE IN NEED.

IF THE EARLY CHURCH HAD THOUGHT THIS WAY

IN ITS FORMATIVE YEARS, THERE PROBABLY WOULD BE

NO CHURCHES IN EXISTENCE TODAY.

THE UNITED STATES HAS PROUDLY CLAIMED

TO BE A COUNTRY THAT ESPOUSES “CHRISTIAN” VALUES.

IT’S TIME FOR SOME SERIOUS DISCUSSION

ABOUT WHAT THESE VALUES ARE

AND HOW WE AS A SUPPOSEDLY “CHRISTIAN” NATION

WILL EMBRACE THEM.

IF EASTER IS REAL, IF JESUS REALLY DID RISE FROM THE DEAD,

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING,

INCLUDING HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES TODAY.

THESE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY I PERSONALLY

AFFIRM THE EMPTY TOMB AND BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

BUT I DON’T THINK THAT ANY OR EVEN ALL OF THEM

IS ENOUGH TO CONVINCE ANYONE ELSE

OF THE REALITY OF THIS EVENT.

AND JESUS HIMSELF MAKES IT CLEAR THAT OUR SALVATION –

OUR OWN PARTICIPATION IN ETERNAL LIFE – DOES NOT DEPEND

ON OUR BUYING ANY OF THIS.  WE ARE GIVEN LIFE BEYOND DEATH

BECAUSE OF GOD’S IRRESISTIBLE LOVE,

NOT BECAUSE WE HAPPENED TO STUMBLE UPON

THE ONE AND ONLY CORRECT SYSTEM OF BELIEF.

ULTIMATELY, BY FAR THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REASON

THAT I CAN PERSONALLY AFFIRM THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION

IS THAT I HAVE PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED

THE REALITY OF THE RISEN JESUS.

UNLIKE MARY IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING,

I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY SEEN HIM,

BUT I HAVE HEARD HIM IN MY HEART AND MIND

ON MORE THAN SEVERAL OCCASIONS.

HOW DO I KNOW IT WAS HIM SPEAKING?

–MOSTLY BECAUSE THE THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND ACTIONS

HIS WORDS INSPIRED IN ME WERE SO FAR BEYOND

MY OWN AT THE TIME THAT I KNEW THEY HAD

TO BE COMING FROM A SOURCE OUTSIDE MYSELF.

SEVERAL TIMES I’VE BEEN CAUGHT UP IN AN OVERWHELMING SENSE

OF BEING IN HIS PRESENCE, WITH VERY TANGIBLE SENSATIONS

OF AWE, CONNECTEDNESS, AND WHOLENESS. 

AGAIN, MY NORMAL, EVERYDAY STATE OF BEING

IS NOT PARTICULARLY AWESOME OR CONNECTED OR WHOLE,

SO WHEN THIS HAPPENS I ASSUME IT’S COMING

FROM A SOURCE OUTSIDE MYSELF.

THIS SOURCE HAPPENS TO BE PERSONAL

AND HAPPENS TO HAVE A NAME,

AND THAT NAME IS JESUS.

AND I BELIEVE THAT THIS SAME JESUS, THE JESUS OF THE GOSPELS,

THE JESUS OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, THE PARABLES,

THE HEALINGS, THE JESUS WHO EMBODIES GOD’S

RELENTLESS COMPASSION AND LOVE,

WILL CONNECT WITH ANYONE WHO SINCERELY

INVITES HIM INTO THEIR LIFE.

I’D LIKE TO CLOSE THIS SERMON

WITH AN EXTENDED ILLUSTRATION FROM TONY CAMPOLO.

TONY IS A RADICAL EVANGELICAL THINKER.

HE’S ALSO A WHITE GUY WHO BELONGS TO A BLACK CHURCH

BECAUSE, FOR HIM, THAT’S WHERE THE ACTION IS.

TONY ADMITS THAT THIS ILLUSTRATION IS LIFTED

FROM A GOOD FRIDAY SERMON BY HIS BLACK PASTOR.

HERE GOES:

IT WAS FRIDAY AND MARY WAS CRYIN’ HER EYES OUT.

THE DISCIPLES WERE RUNNIN’ IN EVERY DIRECTION,

LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD.

WITH JESUS, THE DISCIPLES HAD FELT POWERFUL AND IN CONTROL:

IN CONTROL OF THEIR OWN LIVES,

IN CONTROL OF AND ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

BUT WITH JESUS’ DEATH,

THEY WERE FEELING MORE POWERLESS THAN EVER.

THEY HAD RECONFIGURED THEIR LIVES AROUND JESUS,

AND WITH JESUS GONE,

THEIR LIVES REACHED A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF UNMANAGEABILITY.

BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY, AND SUNDAY’S COMIN’!

IT WAS FRIDAY.  THE CYNICS WERE LOOKIN’ AT THE WORLD

AND SAYIN’, ‘AS THINGS HAVE BEEN, SO THEY SHALL BE.

YOU CAN’T CHANGE ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD;

YOU CAN’T CHANGE ANYTHING.

BUT THOSE CYNICS DIDN’T KNOW THAT IT WAS ONLY FRIDAY.

SUNDAY’S COMIN’!

THE DISCIPLES, WHO HAD FOUND A POWER

GREATER THAN THEMSELVES IN JESUS,

AND WHO HAD EXPERIENCED THE RESTORATION,

THE FULFILLMENT OF THEIR LIVES IN HIM,

BECAME INSTANT CYNICS AFTER JESUS DIED ON FRIDAY.

BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY.  SUNDAY’S COMIN’!

IT WAS FRIDAY!  AND ON FRIDAY, THOSE FORCES

THAT OPPRESS THE POOR AND MAKE THE POOR SUFFER

WERE IN CONTROL.

THE DISCIPLES, WHO HAD TURNED THEIR WILLS AND THEIR LIVES

OVER TO THE CARE OF GOD, AS THEY EXPERIENCED GOD IN JESUS,

PROMPTLY TOOK BACK THEIR WILLS AND THEIR LIVES

IN RESPONSE TO THE DEATH OF THEIR LEADER.

BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY.  SUNDAY’S COMIN’!

ABANDONED WERE THE GROWTH IN CHARACTER,

AND THE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

THAT HAD BEGUN IN THE LIVES OF THE DISCIPLES.

IN THEIR PLACE WERE PLANS TO RETURN TO THEIR OLD LIVES,

WITH ALL THEIR CHARACTER DEFECTS AND SHORTCOMINGS.

BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY.  SUNDAY’S COMIN’

SO WHEN I GET STALLED IN MY WALK AS A CHRISTIAN,

WHEN IT ALL LOOKS LIKE FRIDAY DESOLATION TO ME,

I REMIND MYSELF:

BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY.  SUNDAY’S COMIN’!

SO WHEN WE GET STALLED ON OUR LIFE’S JOURNEY,

WHEN WE FEEL LIKE WE’RE GOING BACKWARDS

RATHER THAN FORWARDS,

WHEN LIFE HAS LOST ITS MEANING,

WHEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND OUR PART IN IT

SEEMS LIKE NOTHING MORE THAN IDEALISTIC PIE-IN-THE-SKY,

LET’S REMEMBER NOT ONLY THAT SUNDAY IS A COMIN’,

LET’S REMEMBER THAT SUNDAY IS ALREADY HERE;

TODAY IS SUNDAY!  EASTER SUNDAY!

LET’S REMEMBER THAT JESUS IS NOT DEAD, BUT ALIVE.

LET’S REMEMBER THAT HIS VISION OF GOD’S KINGDOM

REMAINS THE HIGHEST AND DEEPEST EXPRESSION

OF WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT.

LET’S REMEMBER THAT GOD’S SPIRIT IS READY AND WILLING

TO GIVE US THE POWER WE NEED

TO BECOME ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN GOD’S GOOD NEWS!

AMEN.