This morning we’re beginning a series of sermons focused on encountering Jesus.  Next Sunday is Father’s Day - and Steve the younger will be sharing.  Then - the following Sunday - we’re going to be coming back to this topic of encountering Jesus - Jesus meeting us at the times of our deepest needs. 

Please turn in your Bibles with me to John chapter 20.  Today - we want to focus on encountering Jesus in our loss.

Loss for a lot of people is what happened Saturday at 12:01 a.m. - People turned on their TV’s and saw static.  Bye Bye analog TV - hello digital

A couple weeks ago I was up in Mariposa and I wandered through the Catholic cemetery up there.  Something I find fascinating is wandering through cemeteries - reading epitaphs - wondering about the lives of the people buried there.  Does that sound strange?  Anyone else enjoy wandering through cemeteries?

John and Catherine Feldhaus - who at one time had a farm out here by Snelling - on September 12, 1861 - they had their first son Wilhelm J. Feldhaus.  Two years later - January 7, 1863 - their second son, Linus Feldhaus was born.  Then - three years later - January 8, 1866 - a daughter was born - Ida Feldhaus.

On June 6, 1868 - at the age of 5 - Linus died.  One month later - 2 year old Ida died.  4 days later Wilhelm died.  A few years later John and Catherine had another son - who died at the age of 1½.  Those 4 small grave stones are there - right next to each other in row - up in the family plot in Mariposa.  Can you imagine what those funerals would have been like?

That’s loss.  I’m told that a parent never gets past the loss of a child.  Time heals.  People move on.  But something deep within changes forever.

In life - we experience loss.  Yes?

Loss can be the death of a spouse.  Could be divorce - rejection - abandonment by people we love - someone we’ve poured our lives in to.  Being wounded by someone we’ve deeply trusted.  Shattered hopes and dreams.  Care about anything or anyone - job - school - career - family - just people - and loss is a part of life.  Times when take a hit to the gut.  How do we respond?  When we care about is stripped from us and only emptiness remains - how do we pick up the pieces?   Been there?

John 20 - join me at verse 1:  Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb, so she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Let’s pause and grab what’s happening.

On the first day of the week - the third day after Jesus was crucified - probably about 5 or 5:30 in the morning - the twilight of early morning - Mary Magdalene and a group of other women arrive at the tomb where Jesus’ body had been placed two days earlier.

In Jerusalem - outside the Damascus Gate - there’s a garden at the foot of a hill - where there’s a tomb called “The Garden Tomb.”  No one knows for sure if that’s the actual tomb of Jesus.  But it fits the historical account better than others.  So think garden setting - early morning - not too different than where we are today - minus the lake.

The Jews didn’t bury a body right away.  They’d place it in a tomb - a cave or something like a cave - some place where the body could decompose.  Then they’d bury the decomposed remains.  So Jesus’ body was placed in tomb waiting to be buried.  It was probably it was to this tomb that the women were heading.

We know that placed in front of that tomb was a circular slab of stone - probably weighing thousands of pounds - and there were Romans guards - all placed there to prevent any tampering with the grave - grave robbers - or Jesus’ disciples who might steal Jesus’ body and claim He’d been resurrected.

What the women were planning to do with the stone we don’t know.  Maybe they were hoping to get the guards to help them move it.  We don’t know.  We do know that they were coming to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus’ body prior to burial - a sign of their love and devotion.

Mary Magdalene arrives first - sees the stone rolled away - probably fears the worst - sees enough of the situation to realize that Jesus’ body isn’t there.  As the other women arrive Mary runs off to find Peter and John.  “They’ve taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they’ve laid Him.”

That’s loss.

Mary was from the town of Magdala.  At one point she’d had seven demons cast out of her.  The other women - looking at the other passages that describe this scene - the other women who are mentioned - the other women are described by their relationship to someone else - someone’s mother or wife or sister.  But not Mary.  Mary is alone.  A refugee from Magdala.

Before she encountered Jesus her life - tormented by demons - her life was hell.  She owes everything to Jesus.  Her life centers in Him.  Whatever family she has is this community of people following Jesus.

Mary of Magdala is the first to arrive at the tomb - impassioned with the desire to honor Jesus.  When she sees the tomb empty her aloneness crashes in.  Distraught - she fears that Jesus’ body has been stolen - desecrated.

Can you feel where Mary is coming from?  In the last few days she watched Jesus put on trial - paraded through the streets - ridiculed - abused - hated - spat on.  She was there as they drove nails through His hands - as He was lifted up on the cross.   She watched her friend - her Lord - watched helplessly as He died - horribly.

And now this.  Convinced that Jesus - the only One who gave her any hope in life - convinced that Jesus is dead and His body stolen - once again she’s alone - fearful - hopeless - empty - at loss.  Can you feel where Mary is at?

Her run to find the disciples is a desperate cry for help - to find some solution - some way out of what’s crashing down around her.  “They’ve taken His body.  I don’t know who did it.  I don’t know where they’ve taken Him.”  Loss.

Verse 3:  So Peter and the other disciple - John - who wrote this account - So Peter and - John - went forth, and they were going to the tomb.  The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he - John - saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.  And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he - Peter - saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

Verse 8:  So the other disciple - John - who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.  For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

Peter and John run to the tomb.  Why did they run?  Well, with everything that had gone on that past week - if someone told you that Jesus’ body was missing - wouldn’t you want to find out what happened?  So they ran.

John who’s faster than Peter - John gets there first and looks in - sees only the linen they’d wrapped Jesus’ body in.  Then Peter arrives and enters the tomb.  We can almost imagine Peter barging past John, “John get out of the way.  Let me in there.”  Peter sees empty linen wrappings and the face cloth.

Which - by the way - is a reason why the Shroud of Turin isn’t the burial cloth of Jesus.  The Shroud of Turin is one piece.  Here we have two.

And notice - the face cloth is neatly rolled up and place by itself.  Most likely no grave robber is going to bother tidying up the tomb after searching for valuables or stealing the body - let alone leaving the grave clothes in the first place.  So this is strange.

Peter and John believed.  Believed what?  That Mary was right.  That tomb is empty.  Mary isn’t some hysterical women - overcome with grief - who’s imagining things.  What Mary said she saw she saw. 

Peter and John both see with their own eyes the reality of what Mary has said.  The body isn’t there.  But, what they don’t understand is what that means.  Verse 9 tells us that they still didn’t understand what Jesus had been teaching them about His resurrection.

They both realize that there’s a significance but they’re at a loss to explain it.  Probably - they went home and told no one because they didn’t know what to say.

Job - with everything taken away from him - a huge time of loss - had friends that had all kinds of things to say.  Spiritual platitudes.  Not very helpful.  Sometimes when someone we know is at a time of loss we struggle to know what to say.

To Peter and John’s credit they didn’t say anything.  Unusual for Peter who usually tried to say something profound and usually ended up sticking his foot in his mouth.  Sometimes the best help for those at loss is just to be there - to acknowledge their feelings - especially if we don’t understand what God is doing.

Verse 11:  But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;

Where is Mary suppose to go?  She’s alone.  Her home - her life - is with Jesus.  She looks again into the tomb - in her loss looking for answers.

Verse 12:  and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.

Reminiscent perhaps of the Ark of the Covenant - symbolic of God’s presence - two angels on the lid - on either end.  Got that picture.  In reality - this is holy ground - a place symbolizing God’s relationship with His people.  The body of Jesus - crucified for us - His body was laid there in that tomb.  Angels - literally messengers from God - angels are there to invite Mary to be a part of something tremendously different than her loss.   

Verse 13:  And they - the angels - said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Obviously a leading question.  They know why Mary’s weeping.  They’re leading her to God’s invitation.

She said to them, “[I’m weeping] Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

Mary’s answer reveals how deeply she’s feeling her loss.  When she reports to Peter and John she’s talking about how “we” don’t know where they’ve laid Him.  But now its “my” Lord.  “I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.”  Sorrow and loss on the deepest personal level.

Verse 14:  When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

Jesus is in His resurrected body.  Similar physically - He ate - He could be touched - and yet dissimilar - able to pass through walls.  Mary isn’t expecting Jesus.  She’s probably thrown off by the difference. 

Verse 15:  Jesus said to her, “Woman why are you weeping?  Whom are you seeking?” 

Jesus asks two questions.  The first is the same leading question the angels asked.  The second question goes deeper.  The word “seek” has the idea of desire - want - what we long for.

It’s a really good question.  Isn’t it?  When we’re at a loss - what are we really missing?  Companionship?  Support?  Validation?  Partnership?  What is it that we really want?  What are we really searching for?  What is it that we seek?  What will bring an end to our loss?

“Mary.  What are you looking for that you can’t find?”

Going on:  Supposing Him - Jesus - to be the gardener - being in a garden a logical assumption - 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.”

Mary never really answers either question.  She’s devoted to Jesus - desiring to care for His body.  “Who are you searching for?”  “The body of Jesus.”  She’s focused on one thing and one thing alone:  her loss.

Don’t miss this:  What Mary is seeking is based on her understanding of the situation.  Her search is based on her loss.  Say that with me, “Her search is based on her loss.”

We need to understand that for ourselves. 

Martin Luther once spent three days in a deep depression over something that had gone wrong.  On the third day his wife came upstairs dressed in mourning clothes.  “Who’s dead?”  he asked her.  “God,” she replied, “the way you’ve been acting I was sure He had!” (1)

Mary is working at working out her problem.  But, she has no clue - no answers - she’s improvising to come up with a plan - a way out of her loss.  What’s she going to do with Jesus’ body when she gets it?  Bury it again?  Her answer - as are ours when we exclude God - her answer is incomplete and only leads to more loss.

Verse 16:  Jesus said to her, “Mary!”  She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).

Jesus simply speaks her name, “Mary” and suddenly everything falls into alignment. 

Remember what Jesus said about Himself as the Good Shepherd?  “He who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”  (John 10:2-4)

Mary is not just some woman passing through the garden - part of a crowd of mourners.  Mary matters to Jesus - personally.  He cares for her.  He’s returned for her.  This whole encounter - with the angels and Jesus - is a set-up by God for her.

“Rabbi” - “teacher” is the one word to come from Mary.  Recognition of Who Jesus is.  Rabbi’s had male disciples - not women.  But Jesus did.  Women who were invited by Jesus to be His disciples.  Earlier she speaks of finding her Lord’s body.  Now she calls Jesus, “Rabbi.”  Mary has that unique relationship with Jesus. 

The Shepherd calls to the sheep to lead the sheep from the tomb - out of the valley of the shadow of death - into the garden - into green pastures - to still waters.  Not even death can sever that relationship.

Hold onto this:  While Mary’s searching is based on her loss Jesus responds to her need.  Say this with me, “Jesus responds to her need.”

Are we together on this?  Mary is looking for a corpse.  That’s her idea of a solution.  That’s as far as her understanding will take her.  Jesus wants to lead her to something so much greater.  She’s so focused on the corpse that she doesn’t recognize the answer to her loss when He’s right in front of her face.

When we’re weeping - mourning - confused - lost - wounded - at a total loss - our dreams are shattered and our lives are coming apart at the seams - when we are so tempted to improvise a plan - to put together solutions based on our clueless understanding of our lives - when we think we’re talking to the gardener - may we be praying for God to open our eyes to see Jesus.  May we be listening for His voice.  May we be willing to follow Him wherever He leads.  Because the resurrected Jesus is the answer to the deepest need of our lives.

Verse 17:  Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

Mary responds to Jesus by physically grabbing on to Him - maybe even clinging to His feet in worship and devotion.  Wouldn’t we?  Embrace Jesus and hold on to Him - enjoying being with Him.

But Jesus stops the embrace - why?  Because He hasn’t yet ascended to the Father.

Jesus told His disciples, “Its to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper - the Holy Spirit - the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”  (John 16:7)

When Jesus returns to the Father the Holy Spirit - who is God - as Jesus is God - the Holy Spirit will come to live within Mary - a more intimate and personal relationship with Mary than is possible while Jesus remains on earth.

She’s hanging on to Jesus.  Don’t let go or you may never see Him again.  But if she let’s go she’s going to get Him back in a way that she can’t even begin to imagine - that goes way beyond her deepest longings and hopes.

What Mary needs is not the Jesus she longed for - walking and talking with her - but the risen Savior who offers to her life - abundant resurrection life - life empowered by the Holy Spirit - life forever with God. 

Jesus tells Mary, “Go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father… My God and your God.’”   We’re brothers with Jesus.  God is “OUR” Father.  In John 17:21 Jesus prays that we - His disciples - would be one with the Father as He is one with the Father.  That’s astounding.  An amazing intimacy.  A depth of relationship we’ve only begun to experience. 

Grab this:  We need to let go of the Jesus we want in order to receive the Jesus we need.  Let’s try that together - its on your sermon notes if you’d like to read it:  “We need to let go of the Jesus we want in order to receive the Jesus we need.”

Christianity - especially in this country - is devolving into a religion focused on us.  We pick and choose what we’ll obey - altering our lifestyle based on what we want to believe about God.  We cling to trappings of the Christian life - moral teachings - commitment that fits our schedules - participation that’s about meeting our needs.  Religious experiences that focus on our needs. 

Many Christians cling to a kind of “if I’m a Christian God will bless me with a wonderful life” idea of the way things should be.  We’re hanging on to our version of life - with all our stuff and warm fuzzy feelings - as if that’s what God has for us.

We’re clinging to a Christian religion that’s idolatry because we’re not clinging to Jesus. 

There are other things we cling to:  our wounds - illness - hurts - how we’ve been wronged - anger - entitlement.

It's no wonder when we experience loss we feel such emptiness - we struggle to find direction - so many Christians literally come apart at the emotional and psychological seams - because they’ve never learned to let go of what we’re clinging to and to trust Jesus for what He has for us.  What He desires to pour into our lives that is so much greater than our limited understanding of life.

Bottom Line:  In loss - we need to let go of what we’re clinging to and trust God for what He will lead us to.

Verse 18:  Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.”

Jesus lovingly meets Mary at her point of loss - calls her by name - calls His disciples “brethren.”  There is a huge tenderness there - love.  Then Jesus sends Mary with a message to the disciples.  “Tell them I ascend to our Father.”

Imagine - being a disciple - experiencing the loss of Jesus’ death - imagine receiving that message.  Jesus is alive.  Our brother lives.  His Father is our Father.  His God is our God.  We can know God - intimately - freely - with our sins forgiven and our lives restored.  What Jesus taught us is true.  Jesus is ascending to Father.  Victory over death and the crud of this world has been won.

And Mary of Magdala - the one set free of seven demons - who’s life is in Jesus - who lived with such loss - Mary the woman - is privileged by God to be the first ever to carry that message.

Jesus takes Mary - stooping in tears - peering into an empty tomb - seeing only loss - and as she let’s go of the Jesus she’s clinging to - He - Jesus - transforms her life into one of astounding intimacy with Him and of God given unique purpose.

Think with me about how Mary’s experience might fit your experience.  We need to realize that the tomb - this symbol of such loss - is merely that - a realization of loss.  But that there is so much more to the account.  Jesus’ love poured out.  His presence with us.  His purpose for us.  That never changes - even in the worst circumstances of our loss.

To come to the empty tomb is to come before a compelling - life changing event.  As we come to our own times of loss hold on to this:  Jesus knows the depth of your loss.  And He knows your need.  He knows your name.  He loves you deeply.  His desire is to take you through your loss into the greater things that He has for you.

There’s a question here for each of us:  What are you clinging to? 

May we be trusting God for the Jesus we need.

____________________
1. Quoted from Ray Stedman, “The Incredible Hope,”  John 20:1-18 

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.