Travel to the Tomb

March 24, 2008 by admin.

This morning we have come to worship our Lord and to celebrate his resurrection from the dead. As you got ready for this service, chances are you were not feeling the way that the first Easter celebrants felt. Back in Jerusalem, Jesus’ friends and disciples were feeling much differently than we are today.

First there was Mary Magdalene and the other women who woke up early that morning to finish anointing Jesus’ body. On the way they wondered who would roll away the large stone that had been placed in front of the tomb. And then there was Peter and the other disciples. I don’t think any of them slept much over the past two nights, especially Peter. Early on that first Easter Sunday morning, there were broken hearts to be healed and guilty consciences to be cleansed.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he sought out those who were suffering. In our text we are told that Jesus appeared to Mary and then later that evening to Peter. When he came to them, he did not come to express his disappointment, but to offer his comfort.

Today we are able to share in the joy and comfort that the story of Easter brings. We are able to have our own broken hearts healed and our guilty consciences cleansed. And our joy continues because we know that Jesus is alive and that he has promised to be with us “…to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20) Today we travel the final crossroad of our Lenten season as we

“Travel to the Tomb”

I. Where Broken Hearts Are Healed

II. Where Guilty Consciences Are Cleansed

Our text begins, “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. 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.’” Mary Magdalene was a woman from whom Jesus had removed seven demons. From that time on, she, and several other women, took care of Jesus and his disciples, especially as they traveled around the country.

That is all that we really know about Mary, but it is enough. She had been bound by the devil, but Jesus had set her free. When Jesus was crucified, she was at the foot of the cross. She watched as her Savior suffered, and she saw him take his last breath and die. She was saddened and disappointed that she and the other women did not have enough time to properly prepare Jesus’ body for his burial.

So early that next morning, after the requirements of the Sabbath Day had been fulfilled, she went to Jesus’ tomb. But when she got there, she did not find things the way that she expected. The stone that they had worried about was not in front of the grave. Someone had moved it. Her first thought was that Jesus’ enemies had gotten there before them and had taken his body away.

Mary’s heart was broken. She ran from the cemetery to the place where Jesus’ disciples were staying. We’ll hear more about their reaction in a little while. But let’s stay focused on Mary. After Peter and John had gone with her to the tomb, she remained behind after they went back to Jerusalem. Finally she stooped down and looked inside the tomb. John explains, “As

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

If ever there was a picture of a person who heart had been broken, it would have been Mary. The Lord who had changed here life was now not only dead, but missing. Not knowing what to do she turned to leave the grave. And that’s when things changed quickly and dramatically for her. John wrote, “At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ‘Woman,’ he said, ‘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.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabonni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).

The broken heart was now healed. The sorrow was replaced with sheer and utter joy. The missing had been found, or should we say, the missing found Mary. Not only did she see him, but he called her by name, something he had probably done hundreds of times before.

Today as we look into the empty tomb of our Lord, it also brings joy to our hearts. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we know that nothing, not even death, can stop him from doing what he has said he will do for us. The pain that our sins bring into our life is taken away as we look into the empty tomb. The fear of death that some live with every day of their lives is no threat to us whatsoever. Our broken hearts have been healed and we know that our Lord is with us to lead us through our lives on earth to our eternal life in heaven. Nothing can bring us the joy or heal our broken hearts the way that the story of Easter does. At the conclusion of the Passion story of Jesus is the simple message, “Jesus won.” And Jesus says to us, “Because I live, you also will live.” (Jn. 14:19)

Mary reacted the sight of here Savior running to the disciples. John wrote, “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.” That message was heard by all of the disciples, but it likely had a special ring for Peter.

II. Cleanse Guilty Consciences

For over two days Peter had to live with what he had done. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, Peter had one of the greatest opportunities to show his love for his Lord. While insults and lies were being hurled at Jesus, Peter had an opportunity to speak up for his Lord and show his loyalty to him. But instead, Peter had denied that he even knew who Jesus was, finally taking an oath to back up his denial. No sooner had he done that than Jesus caught his eye as he was being led from one building to another. Peter would never forget that look.

On Easter Sunday morning, Peter was with the other disciples, trying to figure out what to do next. Suddenly Mary Magdalene and the other women came and told them that they had been to the tomb and found the stone rolled away. Peter had to go see for himself, and he was joined by John. We read, “Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the lined. Finally the other disciple,

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who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)”

On the way back to Jerusalem, a million things must have been going though Peter’s mind. John tells us that he believed, and we have no reason to think that Peter didn’t believe. The two must have discussed what had happened, and they probably recalled the many conversations that Jesus had with them, telling them about this very event.

Later that evening, as the disciples were together, Jesus appeared to them and removed any doubt that might still have lingered. He was alive. Now they not only had the word of Mary Magdalene, but they were eye witnesses themselves. Imagine the joy that must have filled Peter’s house. His guilty conscience probably didn’t allow him to sleep or eat much for the past two days. He had treated his Lord horribly. Have you ever done something like that? Maybe you said something to someone, and when you realized how mean-spirited it was, you didn’t have the chance to talk to them to apologize? But when you finally did, do you remember how relieved you felt?

Each of us has done just that to our Lord. By each sin that we commit we treat him horribly. We heap on him pain and shame that he doesn’t at all deserve. But as we look into the empty tomb, we realize that each day we have an opportunity to apologize, to leave our sins at the foot of the cross and take of the healing that the empty tomb offers. That’s why Jesus came. That’s what he left heaven to do. He came to heal the broken hearts and to cleanse the guilty consciences.

Today, in the words of the Easter story, we find the joy and comfort that was first experienced by Mary and Peter. Each day we can live in that joy and comfort because we know that the Savior who has made it possible lives on, now and forever. Let the message of Easter bring you the joy that God intended it to bring. And thank and praise your Lord every day for the healing of your heart and soul. Amen.

“The peace of God….”

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