EASTER SERMON, 20 April 2025 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.” Luke 18:31-33
The Collect.
ALMIGHTY God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen ¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout Easter Week.
Our Prayer of Collect is worded in such way as to reject the heresy of Pelagius that insisted that it would be possible for a man to turn to God and do His will without the help of Divine Grace. There is no good that can originate in the human heart. It is the grace of God, impowering us, by which our works can be accounted righteous – for it is by His righteousness and none of our own by which we are saved and by which we live.
It is noteworthy that our Lord had often foretold the exact details of His Passion to the disciples, yet they never understood the full impact of His Words. In fact, we are told that the meaning and import of His prophecy to them was withheld until they had transpired according to His Word. (see Luke 18:34)
Our Lord Jesus Christ not only worked miracles beyond human comprehension, but He also never spoke a word of untruth. All that He ever said was truth undiluted. So it is amazing that, without the interdicting power of the Holy Spirit, that they could not understand.
There are many things which are told us in Holy Scripture that we may not understand until the time, at the discretion of God, our understanding is opened to the fulness of truth. This may especially be true when we feel that God has deserted us, but then a blessing beyond belief is granted at the end of our fears and doubts.
Our Epistle counsels us to look up to the glories of Heaven and not down to the rubbish and filth of the world. The seeker of gold does not relish the labor of digging in the process of seeking it, but he looks, with hopeful eagerness, to the reward of his labors in striking the vein of gold at the end of them. If we are dead to the sinful desires and pleasures of this world, then are we made alive in Christ and react to every temptation with that Mind that was in Christ – even in the Wilderness for forty days and nights.
The Gospel. St. John xx. 1.
THE first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
Today’s Gospel text is one of my favorites concerning the resurrection of our Lord. We may sit endless moments awaiting the rising of the sun to illustrate the resurrection of our Lord; however, in truth, the illustration is misleading. In our Church at St. Andrews we do not observe Sunrise services on Easter Day because Christ did not rise at sunrise, but sometime after the end of the Sabbath at sunset the previous day.
Now in our text comes Mary Magdalene to the tomb on Easter morning to find the stone already rolled away. She had ventured out during the hours of darkness to the peril of her safety to attend to the final necessities expected for the dead. She came seeking a dead body. Even the dead body of her Lord was of greater worth to Mary than all the living bodies of mankind at this sorrowful morning. What great distress she felt in finding the great stone taken away from the entrance of the tomb. It was a frightful sight that was enhanced in its fearfulness to the darkness of the hour. Yes, Mary had arrived in the darkness of her misunderstanding of the great joy that would be revealed to her in the coming dawn of Light.
In our prayers, we frequently expect too little of God in His power to fulfill our petitions. Mary would never have dreamt that her hopes in attending to the body of Christ would dashed to find His body absent from the tomb. Knowing the mischief of the Jewish rulers, she feared His body had been moved and desecrated by the vengeful hatred of men.
The life of Christ is very much like the gradual opening of a rose – petal by petal. It is true that we presently see through a glass darkly; however, in the Old Testament, that glass was far darker. It gave hints and shadows of the glorious ending to come, but faith in its promise was the accelerant that upheld the hopes and longings of the believer. Christ, from birth, grew in knowledge and wisdom - which reflected the same path upon which the believer is set assail. The gradual revelation to our minds of the mighty truths and manifestation of prophecy begin to fall into place as our seeking is rewarded with understanding as the discovery of gold rewards the miner.
The Old Testament Law was not intended for our hurt, but for our understanding at the throne of wisdom. As we learned of our complete inability to keep the Law of God, we came to know of our absolute depravity without a Savior/Redeemer. This was the promise made in the Garden to our primitive parents, and renewed in the promise of a Coming Seed of righteousness made to Abraham whose faith was in the Savior to come by which he was redeemed – as well as all who believed that promise in faith.
But our dear Mary was too distraught to enter the tomb as did Peter in finding the death-garments lying folded in good order. Peter understood the reality of that which had transpired, but not Mary. Her vision was so obscured by her tears of remorse that she could barely see in the dawn’s early light.
The Gospel text for today barely introduces the glory of the Resurrection, but the following verses, John 20:11-18, reveal the full beauty of that moment of glorious resurrection. Mary dared to stoop down and look inside what she thought was an empty tomb. Instead, she saw two angels there. In her misery, she must not have taken note of the marvelous appearance of the angels who likely appeared to her as mere men. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” (v 13) .
Please do not be mistaken. The angels knew full well why Mary wept so. They were beholding Mary from the vantage point of inside the tomb. They looked out to her and saw behind her, even as she had answered them, and saw the Lord Jesus approaching her from behind. Their hearts must have been exhilarated at the import of this moment. Here Mary was weeping bitter tears over the dead and missing body of her Lord whgile, at that very instant, the risen and living body of her Lord was approaching from behind.
As she turned her head furtively to look behind, she saw dimly through her profuse tears, a supposed stranger approach. Until we here the call of Christ in our souls, He remains a stranger to us. She perceived Him to be the Gardener, and so He was. The Garden is a place of generating life and living, and that is what Christ is – the Bread of Life. He is the grain of seed that fell into the earth and died to produce life more abundantly for all of us.
Our Lord then inquired of Mary with the same question asked by the angels, “Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” We often make requests in our prayers for a far lesser blessing than the Lord is ready to grant. She wanted for a dead body but, here, in front of her, was her Living Lord whom she did not recognize. His identity remained a mystery to Mary until, “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.”
What a glorious moment for our Mary. Her tears of sorrow were turned to tears of great joy. No one can ever call your name as does Jesus. When He calls you, you will follow. When Jesus stood outside the tomb of His friend Lazarus, He did not simply say, “Come forth,” but he said, “Lazarus, come forth!’ else all the dead of that day would have arisen. When He calls us from our death in trespasses and sin, were are immediately made alive and saved by His grace and love. AMEN
