Easter Sunday Service For April 4, 2021

The transcript of the service is below

John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!” And she told them that He had said these things to her.

JOHN 20:1-18 LISTEN TO MARY SAY,”I HAVE SEEN THE LORD”! EASTER SUNDAY
SPRINGFORD BAPTIST CHURCH: April 4, 2021.

I am Mary Magdalene and I want to tell you my story. It is a remarkable story of an unexpected miracle. You see, I was the first one to see Jesus alive after God raised Him from the dead.

I still remember what a terrible, terrible day it was the Friday that the crucifixion took place. Our hearts were broken. Our hopes and dreams were crushed when we saw our Lord nailed to the cross. It seemed like a tormenting nightmare from which I kept wishing I would wake up. But it was true. It was sadly true because I watched it happen. I was standing there near the cross with Jesus’ mother Mary and two other women. We saw Jesus’ agony and it pierced our souls to watch Him suffer. I heard Jesus’ last words when He said, “It is finished” and then He died. At that moment it seemed that everything was finished for every one of us.

I thought of all that I had heard and seen of Jesus. I recalled His powerful teaching and the way that He could explain things I had never understood before. I considered His miracles and the people who were healed by Him. People who were blind were given their sight. People who were deaf could hear again. People who were crippled were able to walk. People controlled by evil spirits were delivered. It was entirely because of Jesus. He had the power and I came to believe that He could do anything. Nothing was too much for Him. He even brought Lazarus back to life after He had been dead and buried for four days. “Why did Jesus’ life have to end this way”? I wondered. “Why”?

There was more to Jesus than these miracles that He could perform. There was the way that He treated me with respect and dignity. Other men did not treat me that way and listen to what I thought and said. Jesus was different. He was so very different. When Jesus talked about love, He also demonstrated love. He really cared about people. I could see his compassion in His eyes and in hear it in His words. What He did, expressed His heart of compassion. I knew that there was something very special and unique about Jesus. I came to believe that He had been sent from God. That is what He said. He was always talking about God His Father in heaven. I came to accept that He was the Lord. He was my Lord. I would have done anything for Him, but I could not stop the events of that Friday. I felt so helpless watching it all happen. What had seemed so good and so hopeful now seemed to be ending in disaster and it really did appear that it was finished.

The last thing that I thought I could do for our Lord was to anoint His body for burial. I got up very early on that first day of the week while it was still dark and we went to the tomb. We wondered how we would roll away the huge stone, but when we got there it was already removed. What could this mean? What had they done with Jesus’ body? I ran to tell the disciples Peter and John. They rushed to investigate, but then they went back home. I was left there wondering. It felt like things were getting worse and worse. I remember that I was standing outside of the tomb crying. My tears and my sobs were getting louder and louder. I bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels there where Jesus’ body had been. They asked me, “Woman why are you crying”? I remember choking out through my tears, “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put Him.” When I turned around, there was someone standing there and He asked me the same question, “Woman why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” I thought it was the gardener and I thought that He might know where Jesus’ body was. I was desperate to try to sort this out. I told the man standing there, “Sir if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.” Somehow I wanted to at least give Jesus’ a proper burial.

I will never forget what happened next because it was a miraculous moment of truth that completely changed everything. In the depths of my sorrow, this man standing there spoke my name. He said, “Mary”. At that instant I knew that it was Jesus. What I had not dared to believe was real. Jesus was alive. Jesus was really alive. When He had died on the cross it was not the end. It was not the end of all our hopes and longings. My head was spinning as I responded with what I always called Jesus, Rabboni (Teacher). I wanted to cling to Him and never let Him go, but Jesus told me to go and tell the disciples and so with my heart and mind racing that is just what I did. I went as fast as I could with the incredible news that I now knew was absolutely true because I had seen Jesus alive for myself. I had seen him. I had heard Him. I had touched him. He was definitely alive!

I could not wait to tell the others, “I have seen the Lord”! “I have seen the Lord”! Those words and that truth signalled for me and everyone who would believe the miracle of what had happened. I now was convinced that we could still expect miracles because Jesus is alive! That is my message for anyone who will listen. You can expect miracles from God. When it seems to you that all hope is gone, do not give up because our God is a God of miracles. He can bring about what we never thought possible. When we think that life can never be good again and that the sun will never shine again, we can know that God can do anything. God did raise Jesus back to life and I am here to tell you that I know it is true because, “I have seen the Lord”!! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Jesus is risen and alive forever! I will never get tired of telling anyone and everyone, “I HAVE SEEN THE LORD”!!