Sunday LinkUP – Jesus Speaks Our Name – John 20:1-18 | SL20260405

TRANSITION SONG   

SERMON 

Jesus Speaks Our Name   

John 20:1–18 (NRSVUE)  

He is risen!  Praise God, he is risen.  Happy Easter!  “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” 

Easter is the high day of rejoicing for Christians.  It is the center of the Christian calendar; Christmas, Epiphany, and Lent lead up to it.  And Ascension Sunday, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday flow out from Easter.   

But to be clear, we are not here to worship a day.  We are here to rejoice in the One this day points to: Jesus the Christ.  For what we seek and find on Easter morning is the living Lord who is among us.  Let us respond with rejoicing as we are reminded of the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.  

Today, that reminder comes to us in the Easter story found in John 20.  

Early 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.  So 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.” 

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.  The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.  He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 

Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.   

Then the disciples returned to their homes.  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. 

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and 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.  They 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.”  When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 

Jesus 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.”   

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”  

She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 

Jesus 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.’”  

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. 

John 20:1–18 (NRSVUE)

The story begins after Jesus was crucified.  Jesus has been living among his followers for three years.  They have traveled around teaching about God’s kingdom and the shift in values of his kingdom: right relationship with God and with one another, peace, and joy. (Romans 14:17)  We call his followers disciples.  And they are Jesus’ friends and students who have grown to love him.  Mary was a follower.  

And now her friend and teacher has been arrested, sentenced to death, and killed on a cross.  She is going to his tomb. “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark …”  

We know it’s Easter morning, but Mary does not.  We are going to talk about what happens when Jesus speaks her name.  But at this point in the story, it is still dark for Mary; she believes Jesus is still dead.   

Today, we celebrate the risen Jesus on Easter, but we do so “while it is still dark.”  

Maybe like Mary, it feels like dark times for you.  Maybe you’re grieving over the darkness and evil in the world.  Celebrating Easter does not mean we pretend that everything is fine in the world or our lives.  We are called to believe even “while it is still dark.”   There are days where we can barely make out any light at all.  Days when our journey feels more like walking to the tomb.  

God does not expect us to deny our struggles.  Instead, Jesus joins us in our suffering.  He suffers with us.  And the good news of the Incarnation is that God became flesh in Jesus, who did what we could not do for ourselves.  Jesus does not only suffer with us; he suffered for us.  

For now, we experience God’s kingdom as already, but not yet.  We do not yet experience the fullness of God’s peace and joy.  But the darkness of evil and broken relationships is not the end of the story.  Jesus has already broken the power of sin and death on the cross.  It is finished.  And the Light of the world has risen.   

Back to verse one.  Although “it was still dark,” we find that Mary Magdalene was able to see that something is different.  At that time, a tomb was usually a small cave cut into rock, with a heavy stone rolled across the entrance.  The stone closed or sealed the tomb.  But Mary sees that “…the stone had been removed from the tomb.”  

She sees the first sign that something has changed.  Here is Mary, stumbling upon a change that we know now to be an incredibly good thing.  The stone has been rolled away.  But for Mary, she does not at first see it as good.  Why do we resist change with all our being?  

Her response is to run back to Simon Peter and another disciple to report her alarming discovery.  “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”  

Mary’s weeping.  For her, Jesus was everything.  He was the one who restored her.  How can she go on without Jesus?  Maybe, like Mary, you have lost someone precious to you. 

At least she has his tomb to visit.  At least she can come here to lean on the stone which keeps Jesus by her side.  Maybe you can relate.  Many people feel comforted by visiting the grave of a loved one.  

If the stone remains, at least nothing more can be taken from Mary.  Maybe we think if we can somehow barricade all that we hold dear behind some immovable stone, we can maintain control.  

But Mary does “not know where they have laid him.”  Jesus is no longer where she expected to find him.  If you’ve been following Jesus for a while, maybe you can relate.  God will surprise you!  We may prefer the predictability of Jesus staying put, staying in the tomb.  But he is risen and active, moving in the world and in our lives.  You cannot put him in a box.  Certainly not a box made for death.  

Our predictions of God’s actions are limited by our human experience and knowledge.  

And here’s the good news:  we do not need a predictable God.  We need a trustworthy God.  And God is absolutely worthy of our trust.  Even when everything feels out of control, we can trust where Jesus is leading us.  

After Mary tells Peter and the other disciple, they “set out and went toward the tomb.”  Who is this unnamed disciple?  Imagine it’s you.  Today in this story Mary is running to you with the claim that the stone has been rolled away.  This story invites you to look into the tomb with Peter.  What will you see?  

Can you imagine yourself as part of this story?  Because you are!  The story that God has been telling from the beginning of time includes you.  

The disciples saw a  startling  sight.  Peter saw “the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.”   Then the other disciple also went in, and “he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that [Jesus] must rise from the dead.” 

Are you not glad John tells the story like this?  Even the disciples who lived with Jesus and learned from him did not fully understand Scripture.  The Bible is not just for pastors and scholars.  The Bible is for everyone!  The Bible is for you.   

And reading the Bible does not earn us anything.  We read Scripture to recognize and grow into the love God has already given us in Jesus.  God has acted first.  Learning about God through Scripture helps us understand and live within that reality.  

Jesus speaks our name.   And the fruit of that is we want to read the Bible.  

The disciples return to their homes; but Mary remains.  She stands weeping outside the tomb.

“ … she bent over to look into the tomb; and 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. They 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.”   

She turns and finds herself face to face with Jesus, but she does not know it’s him.  Thankfully, Jesus knows how to open her eyes.  He speaks to her.  He starts with the same question the angels ask and adds one of his own.  “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom are you looking for?”  These two questions go together.  It connects Mary’s tears to her longing for Jesus.  

Our tears tell us there is more, leading us to look further.  Grief can pull us toward what is missing. 

• You feel sad when you are ignored because you were created to belong. 
• You feel bad when you are lonely because you were created for community. 
• You feel despair that life seems pointless because you actually long for purpose.  But God has called you his own and given you purpose.  Jesus speaks your name.   

Now Mary is standing face to face with Jesus, speaking to him and still does not recognize him.  If you could jump into the story, you might want to say, “Mary, don’t you get it?”  You may want to remind her that the stone’s been moved and the tomb is empty.  Would you try to convince her that this is proof that Jesus is alive?  Surely if we use our words convincingly with irrefutable logic, we can get Mary to see the truth of the resurrection.  There are many books filled with arguments aimed at convincing others that Jesus has indeed risen.  

But maybe we should simply hold back and let Jesus speak.  After all, he is the Word of God.  This very Word has the power to speak the entire universe into existence.  And here in this story we hear the words he chooses to say to Mary to open her eyes.  He uses only one. “Mary.” 

Jesus speaks the only word that you cannot deny is spoken personally to you.  Your name.  That’s what we see in the story.   Jesus restores all that Mary has lost by speaking her name.   

What if we could keep that in mind as we live as people sent by God to share his good news with the world?  If you are a follower of Jesus, did you begin to trust Jesus because someone made a convincing argument that proved God is real?   

No, you encountered Jesus.  And you experienced Jesus through his Body, his Church.  Jesus spoke your name.

That’s why we follow Jesus’ example, and say to our neighbors, “Come and see.”  Just come.  Spend time with us and experience belonging.  Come experience the kingdom, encounter God’s love.  

We do not have to start with arguments.   We do not have to wait for others to “recognize” God before we include them in our community of believers.  We can enfold them into our love for God and for one another.

We can show them who God is by living kingdom values. We can care for them, patiently, while 

Jesus speaks their name,

and the Holy Spirit convicts,   

and the Father draws them to his heart.

After all, Mary is recognized by Jesus before she recognizes him.  Jesus makes the first move.  Just as in rescuing and saving humanity, God has made the first move.  

And everything changes because Jesus speaks Mary’s name.  Jesus restores their relationship.  But he’s not finished.  

Jesus gives her a deeper name.   He gives her a new identity.   Just as he gives us a new identity.   He says 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.’” 

Do you see what Jesus has done?  He has brought her into his own relationship with his Father.  He will not settle for anything less.  Jesus has moved Mary’s relationship with him beyond how she related to him before.  She is now to relate to him as her brother.  Jesus’ Father is her Father.  She is a child of God.  

Jesus does not only take what we could not bear ourselves: our death, our suffering, our sin.  He also gives us his life.  This changes everything!  Jesus shares with us his life with the Father and the Holy Spirit.   

And that life flows outward.  Verse 18.  

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.  

Jesus commissions her to go and tell.  Because  the good news is not simply good news for Mary.  We cannot keep it to ourselves.  

Jesus speaks our name.  Like Mary, when we “have seen the Lord,” he transforms us.  And the overflow is that we want others to “see the Lord.”  

We have this story to read on Easter morning to teach us how faithful God is.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  In fact, when he ascended to his Father, he took us with him.  He refuses to leave us.  

Let’s read this good news from Ephesians.  

… but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up  with him  and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2:4–7 NRSVUE

May we rejoice that Jesus has lifted us up in his relationship with his Father.  May we rejoice that our Savior has rescued us from sin and death.

Jesus speaks your name and he is risen!   

SONG OF RESPONSE  

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