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Easter - Unbelievable Miracles

John 20:1-18

April 20, 2003

The Resurrection of Jesus

John 20

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^£ into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^£ “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Ending his sermon one Sunday, a preacher announced that he would preach on Noah and the Ark on the following Sunday.  He also gave the scriptural reference for the congregation to read ahead of time.

A couple of jarbig boys from the congregation noticed something interesting about the placement of the story in the Bible. They slipped into the church before the next Sunday's service and glued two pages of the pulpit Bible together.

That next Sunday, the preacher got up to read his text. "Noah took unto himself a wife," he began, "and she was" - he turned the page to continue - "three hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high."

He paused, scratched his head, turned the page back, read it silently, and turned the page again.

Then he looked up at his congregation and with an amazed look on his face said, "I've been reading this old Bible for nearly fifty years, but there are some things in it that are still hard to believe." [1]

Its true.  We can read the bible, and sometimes, even when the pages are not stuck together, things are hard to believe.

Three days after their leader, their teacher, their pastor, their friend is executed for sedition and blasphemy, the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, led first by the women of their group, come to his tomb, his place of interment, to find him gone!

The tomb is there, his shroud is there, but he is not.

Yet soon they some of them would  see that although what they expected to see was not to be, something they certainly didn't expect to find there, was in fact present.  "two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet."

Sure enough, within moments of their initial and then the second shock, they have a third jolt.  That Jesus, whom they were shocked to find had vacated his tomb and his grave clothes, was in fact still there!  However, not dead and inert as they had expected and feared, but very much alive and speaking of even more miracles, like ascending through the sky and up to be with his father in heaven.

For as long as we have been reading this book, for some of us more than fifty years, perhaps this more than anything else is hard to believe!

For this reason, perhaps ,the most amazing miracle in this story is what happens next.  That Mary Magdalene is no longer afraid, not disbelieving, and not pessimistic about what has just happened to her but goes out to announce to everybody, "I have seen the Lord!"

Can you make this absurd claim?  Are you shocked by the shear implausibility of what she and the rest of those disciples witness?  Are miracles at all possible? 

Yes its true.  What we celebrate on Easter morning, what the disciples witnessed so many centuries ago, is extra-ordinary, extra-logical and hard to believe, but is that all they are? 

Why couldn't miracles have been possible then?

Why can't we believe in miracles even today?

We are so quick in this time and culture to react negatively to that which is so "hard to believe."  Pessimism, realism and lack of faith are such central tenets of the American and Western European belief system.  But why?  What is the state of Missouri called, the "Show Me State?"  That's probably a true motto for the entire western world!

Yet, miracles are not so unheard of!

On December 7, 1988 an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing tens of thousands of persons. In one small town, directly after the earthquake, a father rushed to his son's school only to find that the school had been flattened and there was no sign of life.

But he had no thought of turning back. He had often told his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you when you need me!"

Though the prospects appeared hopeless, he began feverishly removing rubble from where he believed his son's classroom had been. Other forlorn parents only wailed hopelessly. "My son!" "My daughter!" Some told the father to go home, that there was no chance that any of the pupils could be alive. To which this loving father replied, "I made my son a promise that I'd be there for him anytime he needed me. I will continue to dig."

Courageously, he proceeded alone. No one volunteered to help him. He simply had to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead?"

With strength and endurance beyond himself, the faithful, loving father continued to dig... for 8 hours... for 12 hours... 24 hours... 36 hours. Then in the 38^th hour, as he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble, he heard voices. "Armand!" he screamed.

A child's voice responded: "Dad! It's me,... Armand!" Then, "I told the other kids not to worry. I told 'em that if you were alive, you'd save me, and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised you would always be there for me! You did it, Dad!"

Moments later, the dad was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry, thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. Free at last! When the building collapsed, these children had been spared in a tent-like pocket. The father lovingly carried his son home to his mother, where he was given the care he needed.

When the townspeople praised Armand's dad, his explanation was, "I promised my son, ‘No matter what, I'll be there for you!'"[2]

Over forty thousand people died in four minutes on December 7, 1988.  It was only by the grace of God that this boy Armand survived.  Thousands of fathers, mothers, children, sisters, brothers and loved ones dug for countless hours, but their loved ones did not emerge despite the efforts and promises and commitment of their loved ones.  In the midst of the destruction and horror, God saved the precious lives of many who probably, by all accounts should not have survived.  This is God's grace, that despite awful and horrible realities, in a broken sinful, imperfect world, some were actually spared and lived.

We face miracles and the grace of God every day and yet we dismiss them mundane, as normal and just another quirk of our lives.

Just last week, seven American prisoners of war were rescued out of the ashes, chaos and fog of those days.  They returned home to the United States just this morning.   So many perished, so many civilians, Armenians among them.  So many Americans.  So many innocents who had no business being killed.  Among them were some, who miraculously escaped, whose survival is due only to the Grace of God.  Some might call it chance. Some might gall all this luck, but ask those who were saved and so many of them will call it God!

This past Friday.  Revival came again to our church.  A prayer for revival has been lifted up from our midst and miraculously, God has answered it.  Twenty from our congregation were in attendance at this year's presentation of the Merrimack Valley Film Festival, held annually in Lawrence.  It is an event at which films are shown, with Christian themes, free of charge to any who want to come.  After each program is shown, organizers present an additional short Christian message of challenge and invitation, asking any who have never done so to step forward, confess their sin, confess their faith and hope in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and commit their lives to him.

Of the number that attended Friday from our church, no fewer than eleven young people responded to that invitation, stepping forward and accepting the faith of Christ as their very own.  Eleven kids who are not perfect and holy and angels now that that they have committed their lives to Christ.  But who are the children of this church and who will become the seeds of revival and Christian renewal and growth in this congregation for the generation to come!

Miracles:

like a child found alive in the rubble of a collapsed building days after he should have been lost,

like seven lost soldiers who could easily have been executed by hateful guards left to their own decisions – found trudging through the desert dressed in disheveled pajamas,

like eleven youths whose lives in faith are just now coming alive in new and unexpected ways,

like a tomb found empty and a Savior found strong and true and ready to give life,

These are true and real and powerful events.  Miracles occur and we may not even notice if we are not careful.

Nonetheless, it took real courage for Mary to respond to the miracle she witnessed, the way that she did.  “I have seen the Lord" she "announced to the disciples."

What joyous Easter miracles have you encountered today?  What can you announce to the stunned or maybe just sleepy world today?

What does it mean to you that your child is one of the ones who was touched by Grace this weekend?  What does it mean to you that our church is experiencing revival and the new hope that dawns on Easter morning?  Did you even notice?  Did you know what you were looking at?

When explorers first went to Australia they found a mammal which laid eggs; spent some time in water, some on land; had a broad, flat tail, webbed feet, and a bill similar to a duck. Upon their return to England, they told the people of this, and all of them felt it was a hoax. The explorers returned to Australia and found a pelt from this animal and took it back to England, but the people still felt it was a hoax. In spite of the evidence, they disbelieved because they didn't want to believe. [3]

What other miracles are happening in your life?  What other things are God doing that you have refused to believe God has done?

The great Christian theologian of the ages said, "Understanding is the reward of faith.  Therefore, seek not to understand so that you might believe, but believe so that you might understand."[4]

It is Easter day.  It’s the  day of the year that we celebrate the miraculous, unbelievable, unpredictable and spectacular grace of God, that is as mundane and spectacular as dawn after the darkest part of the day, like spring after the harshest winter, like the miracles that we are experiencing with each breath of life that we take. 

Celebrate Easter today, and celebrate the blessing of Easter everyday of your life!