Here's the Easter Day sermon I shared at St Mary’s Runwell this morning:
Jesus appeared to many of his disciples after he was raised. Paul gives us a partial list in 1 Corinthians 15.5-8 where he says: ‘… he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.’
The number of people who saw him after his resurrection is important because it confirms the reality of his resurrection; so many people over such a period that they cannot all have been deceived or misled. The number that saw him is also significant because each have different reactions and responses and we may identify with them at different times and stages in our lives.
So, today I want to share four meditations about four of those who saw Jesus and ask you which you identify most with today.
Jesus’ female disciples were the first to realise that he had risen and Mary Magdalene was the first to see him. She was the first to tell the other disciples that he had risen, becoming the apostle to the apostles as she did so. In this meditation, she is repeatedly asked why she weeps and her answers show the change in her understanding as she comes to realise that Jesus is alive and with her.
Mary
Why do you weep?
For the body taken away
For not knowing its location
For the escalation of grief
For the suspension of closure
Why do you weep?
For the frustration of expectations
For the pain of crucifixion
For the victory of might
For the loss of my beloved
Why do you weep?
For the voice that called my name
For the body that I held
For the teacher who still teaches
For the dead man who now lives
Why do you weep?
For the reversal of all my expectations
For the joy of resurrection
For the victory of love
For union with my beloved
Despite his assertions before the event, Peter denied Jesus three times before his crucifixions. When Jesus meets Peter after the resurrection, he walks him through denial to assure him of his forgiveness and to enable him to minister as an apostle.
Peter
The cock crows
and trust fails as you deny
the one that you had sworn
never to leave or forsake
The cock crows
with the falling away of commitment
which tears away, where denied beliefs stuck to you,
the flesh from the bone
The cock crows
And there is nothing except pain
and a cry and a hate, extreme crisis and no belief,
memories and facts and realities of denial.
The question is posed,
“Do you love me?”
and guilt is re-inhabited
in order to be understood and redeemed.
The question is posed,
“Do you love me?”
and the promise of wholeness comes
as the fragments of a shattered psyche are gathered up through self-knowledge.
The question is posed,
“Do you love me?”
Three affirmations countermand three denials
and the guilty party walks free to love and feed God’s flock.
Thomas famously was not there when Jesus first appears to the main group of disciples and says that unless he can place his hands in the nail and spear prints on Jesus’ body he will not believe. However, when Jesus appears to him he proclaims, ‘My Lord and my God!’
Thomas
Unless I see
the scars
of the nails
in his hands
and put my finger
on those scars
and my hand
in his side,
unless I can touch,
unless he is tangible,
unless I have proof,
I will not believe.
If you see
the scars
of the nails
in my hands
and put your finger
on those scars
and your hand
in my side,
if you can touch,
if I am tangible,
if you have proof,
you will not have belief.
Blessed are those
who cannot see
the scars
of the nails
in my hands
and put their fingers
on those scars
and their hands
in my side,
blessed are those who
cannot touch,
who are without
tangible proof,
for they truly believe.
Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, when Saul was travelling there to persecute Christians in the Early Church. Paul calls himself ‘the least of the apostles’ as a result, ‘unfit to be called an apostle’ because he ‘persecuted the church of God’. But, he concludes, ‘by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain’.
Paul
Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me?
Who are you?
I am those you persecute,
they are my Body,
they are in me
and I am in them.
I am one Body
though made of many parts;
Jews, Gentiles,
men, women,
slaves or free,
all are one in me.
Apostles, prophets,
teachers, miracle workers,
healers, helpers, directors,
speakers in strange tongues;
all are one in me.
Black, white,
young, old,
gay, straight,
disabled, able-bodied
upper class, working class,
all are one in me.
When one part suffers,
all parts suffer;
when one part is persecuted,
all are persecuted.
Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me?
Who are you?
I am Jesus,
whom you persecute.
Who are you?
all parts suffer;
when one part is persecuted,
all are persecuted.
Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me?
Who are you?
I am Jesus,
whom you persecute.
Who are you?
I am like one
whose birth was abnormal,
the least of the Apostles,
not even deserving
of that name,
for I persecuted you
by persecuting your people.
I am Paul,
your servant,
your Apostle to the Gentiles,
a part of the Body of Christ.
Which of these apostles do you identify with most today? Mary Magdalene, gradually coming to the understanding that Jesus is with her? Peter receiving forgiveness for earlier denials and assurance for future ministry? Thomas, disbelieving initially but now seeing the truth for himself? Paul, stopped in his tracks and turned around from a persecutor of Christ’s church to becoming its strongest advocate? It doesn’t matter who we identify with or where we are on our journey of faith, all that matters is that like them we see the risen Jesus and, like Thomas, cry ‘My Lord and my God!’ May it be so for each one of us. Amen.
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U2 - Resurrection Song.
