Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026

John 20:1-18

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. ² 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.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes. ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^[a] into the tomb, ¹² 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. ¹³ 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.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ 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,^[b] if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^[c] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not touch 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.’” 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.

Sermon

What would it be like to walk to the tomb that first easter morning? Walking as the dawn breaks, the quiet slowly gives way to the sound of the world waking. Carrying memories and grief, going to a loved one’s grave for the first time.

There are no lilies, no trumpets, no easter finery, bunnies, and baskets of eggs that first easter morning. Just the grief, loss, and death as tangible a burden as the spices the other gospels say Mary carried.

A colleague working on her Easter sermon once posted: The blank page where my sermon was supposed to be reminds me of the empty tomb. I think it was supposed to be tongue in cheek, a preacher’s joke commiserating with other preachers sitting in front of blank screens, waiting for… 

inspiration?

...insight?

…Hope? 

She was speaking directly to me, for me, as my sermon page was as empty as the tomb. As I pondered the connection between the empty sermon and the empty tomb, I was moved from despair that I would ever find something to say to hope. 

And that too reminds me of the empty tomb. 

I often wonder if Mary Magdaglene is out that early in the morning, looking for Jesus, because she remember he said he would rise on the third day?

As she walks carrying her burden of grief, memories, and spices, does her step somehow lighten as she remembers what Jesus said, not once but three times – I will rise again. Was hope mingled with grief? 

Suddenly it all changes. He is risen, just as he said! 

At the dawn of a new day, Christ is risen! This is a morning of renewal, of resurrection, of new life. Because Jesus died and rose again, we too live a brand-new life.

I responded to my colleague, “The potential and promise of a blank page, where all things are possible, hope thrives, and love grows. 

Mary faced that potential and promise when she saw the empty tomb. How do you make sense of it? She ran back and told the disciples. She waited, weeping by the tomb. It takes time to experience resurrection, to realize what the empty tomb means. It wasn’t until Jesus calls her by name that Easter dawn breaks in her heart. 

Jesus calls you by name, turning the page on all the sorrow and grief of your life. The page is blank; you have a fresh start. The tomb is empty; you have new life.

This is a word we desperately need to hear. The news is overwhelming; events pile up so fast we can’t process them. We carry memories of what used to be and grief over all that we have lost as individuals, as a country. We walk bearing anger and hopelessness.

And we come face to face with the empty tomb. Face to face with the potential and promise where all thing are possible, hope thrives, and love grows.

 At the dawn of a new day, Christ is risen!

At the dawn of each new day, we rise to new life in Christ!

Christ is risen!