The stone is rolled away to reveal the empty tomb of Easter morning. Jesus is not there. Yes, death cannot hold him, but where did he go? The angel asks Mary and us: Whom do you seek?
There are several unique characteristics to the gospel of John's portrayal of the empty tomb discovery. Unsurprisingly, the John editor points out that it's "still dark," fittingly continuing at the end story the light-dark interplay that started in the gospel's opening. Mary is identified as from Magdala, from Galilee, and Mary appears to travel to the tomb alone. (This seems odd in itself, and gets compromised when she reports to the disciples "... and we don't know where they have put him.")
With John's penchant for drawn out stories, this one follows suit, involving lots of movement back and forth, mysterious signs, confusion, mis-identification, and ultimately disclosure about the true nature of Jesus.
Yes, we eventually have Jesus revealed, but it isn't the same Jesus that the disciples knew before. Everything has changed, including Jesus. There is some action on Jesus' part that requires him to disclose himself in order to be recognized. We find this same thing happening in the story on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24. In the end, the disciples may see Jesus, but they don't ever seem to understand what's going on. Sound familiar?
Today, we come back to that empty tomb and encounter the angel's question, whom do you seek? And the original question impinges as well, where can he be found? There is an answer, and you'll find it in the sermon video below and in the downloads below the video panel.
There are several unique characteristics to the gospel of John's portrayal of the empty tomb discovery. Unsurprisingly, the John editor points out that it's "still dark," fittingly continuing at the end story the light-dark interplay that started in the gospel's opening. Mary is identified as from Magdala, from Galilee, and Mary appears to travel to the tomb alone. (This seems odd in itself, and gets compromised when she reports to the disciples "... and we don't know where they have put him.")
With John's penchant for drawn out stories, this one follows suit, involving lots of movement back and forth, mysterious signs, confusion, mis-identification, and ultimately disclosure about the true nature of Jesus.
Yes, we eventually have Jesus revealed, but it isn't the same Jesus that the disciples knew before. Everything has changed, including Jesus. There is some action on Jesus' part that requires him to disclose himself in order to be recognized. We find this same thing happening in the story on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24. In the end, the disciples may see Jesus, but they don't ever seem to understand what's going on. Sound familiar?
Today, we come back to that empty tomb and encounter the angel's question, whom do you seek? And the original question impinges as well, where can he be found? There is an answer, and you'll find it in the sermon video below and in the downloads below the video panel.
| 04-16-17-ff-easter-answers.pdf |
| 04-16-17-whom_do_you_seek.pdf |