John 20:1-18
April 23, 2000
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.
Caught Dead In
It’s traditional to wear a new dress or put on a new shirt and tie on Easter to symbolize the new life we have in Christ. I can remember when I was a child with my two brothers and we would walk down Commonwealth Avenue in Boston after Easter Sunday service with our new suits and shoes on. Girls and women wore hats and gloves in those days.
Shopping for these Easter clothes was not necessarily fun. They may be nice for our annual Easter family portrait but for the rest of the year, “I wouldn’t be caught dead in them!” They were never good to play baseball in or to go down to the corner soda fountain to have a tonic.
Fashions change and we say “image is everything.” For those of you who still know the lyrics to “Blowing in the Wind” today would not be caught dead wearing bell-bottoms and paisley shirts. I even used to have a Nehru jacket!
According to John’s gospel, Jesus was caught dead wearing a linen wrapping, and earlier, a crown of thorns. Yet on that Easter morning, it seems that the linen cloth has been shed. The tomb echoes with emptiness. As if Jesus had in effect told his disciples: “I wouldn’t be caught dead in that tomb.”
What would you be caught dead in?
Coffin Choices
For our world today, image seems to be everything. Did you know that now when you are preparing to make your last statement that expresses your personality for all eternity, you have coffin choices?
There’s a company in Dallas called Whitelight Casket that has introduced “art caskets” for those who want to be caught dead in something unique. No longer must the discriminating consumer choose merely between a traditional wooden box or a boring bronze coffin. Whitelight can assist in selecting a casket that is tailored to one’s personal sense of style.
If you are a golfer, you might choose the “Fairway to Heaven” model. They have models with a beach scene, the New York skyline, and the American flag. They even have a model portraying a postal package that says in bold red letters “Return to Sender.”
Before my mother died 4 years ago, she had already purchased her burial package that included the casket, headstone, cemetery plot, etc. She didn’t want any of us to worry about such things.
You need to know that my Mom loved Paul Revereware. These pots and pans are all stainless steel with copper bottoms. When you burn food on them, don’t worry, with a SOS pad you can make them shine again. Paul Revereware are great for frying and
stir-fry. None of these non-stick pans for my Mom. Stainless steel lasts forever, it seems.
When we were meeting with the funeral director to examine the “merchandise” she bought, I should have guessed. In her pre-burial package deal, she bought a solid bronze coffin and a stainless steel vault. I had the choice of only choosing the outside decorative paneling for the vault. It wasn’t too difficult to decide. I picked copper. I can literally say that Mom is buried in Paul Revereware! There was no confusion here. My Mom knew exactly what she wanted.
When Jesus died, his final resting place was a common and ordinary cave on the property of Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph and Nicodemus brought spices to anoint the body.
Disciples Confusion
On that first Sunday before sunrise, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. Finding that the stone is rolled away, Mary doesn’t investigate the empty tomb. Rather she runs to Simon Peter and the “other disciple” assuming that someone had stolen the body of Jesus.
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where
they have laid him.”
Imagine the shock and panic on Mary’s face when she ran back to tell the disciples what she found.
To check out Mary’s story, Simon Peter and the other disciple run toward the tomb for themselves. They found 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. They believed what they saw but yet they did not understand what Jesus taught them. The fact that they returned to their homes to go into hiding, probably still in fear of being accused of hanging out with Jesus shows that they didn’t understand. They were confused. They didn’t understand that Jesus will rise from the dead.
After 2000 years, we sometimes find ourselves still confused over what happened at the tomb that morning. We read and hear about the resurrection of Jesus but it remains only a distant story to revisit once a year. Like the disciples we may be confused on why something so long ago has any meaning for us contemporary people of the 21st century. And when it comes down to our own facing up to the fearful thought of our own death, we are confused.
Some of you are aware that in my own life, I have had the misfortune of losing two brothers to congenital heart failure. They died when they were only young adults.
Because they passed suddenly, it was very difficult for my mother to understand why God would permit such sorrow to happen. We were disheartened and confused over what purpose if any, there was in such events.
My younger brother died when I was in seminary. Many of my friends became concerned that my faith might falter because of such tragedies. They prayed for me and sustained me with their faith that God is love and life. That God on the cross in the life of Jesus Christ died so that we may have new and everlasting life in heaven. It’s not that I don’t miss them. We all miss our loved ones. When Mary, Simon Peter and the other disciple found that the tomb was empty, I know that Jesus was telling the truth! For me, Jesus’ resurrection means that the sting of death is conquered once and for all. Definitely, I wished that I could have had the opportunity to grow old with my brothers but that wasn’t to be. What I do know from the depth of my heart is that I will see them again because Jesus would not be caught dead in the tomb.
Jesus Calls Us by Name
Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. Not only was she grieving over the death of her friend Jesus, but now she is sad that even in his death, someone didn’t have the respect of leaving Jesus’ body alone. She was confusing the resurrection with grave robbing.
After seeing two angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, Mary turns around and saw Jesus standing there but at first didn’t recognize him. Thinking that he was the gardener, she asks him the same question, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
We are like Mary sometimes. So disheartened and filled with doubts that we can’t easily see what’s in front of us. Our losses and disappointments hold us back from moving ahead. The tears that fill our eyes and the Kleenex that we put up to our faces cloud our vision of the good life that God has promised us with.
Jesus said, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Jesus is asking Mary, you and me, “Why the sad faces? Who are you looking for or what are you waiting for before you would live life?” Then Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Jesus, “Rabbouni!” which means Jesus.
If we leave it up to ourselves to come up with satisfactory reasons not to weep for all the disappointments and sadness in our lives, we may still be crying. Like Mary standing outside Jesus’ tomb, we may be standing outside our own tombs and coffins weeping with no joy and peace forthcoming.
But Jesus changes all of this doom and gloom because of the resurrection. Jesus will call out our names as he called Mary’s. When this happened, immediately all of Mary’s tears are wiped away and she can see that indeed it was the Lord. All of our tears and Kleenexes of life are eliminated because God calls each and every one of us by our very own name. God knows your name as well as he knows the back of his hand. When we
come to Christ with all of our hopes, and doubts, and fears, he will tell us like he told Mary to announce to the disciples that “I have seen the Lord!”
By the witnesses of Mary, Simon Peter, John, Thomas, and all of the disciples and apostles, they have seen the Lord. We too have seen the Lord because they ran to the tomb and found the linen wrappings lying there because Jesus would not be caught dead in the tomb.
Coffin Confusion
For a moment there was coffin confusion on that first Easter morning. The tomb is empty. Jesus’ tomb didn’t have any special drawings or images that convey that here lies a unique person. It wasn’t stainless steel. Rather he was placed in a fresh grave in a garden. A large rock sealed the opening.
The grave and entombment were perfectly common and ordinary. At least they seemed to be ordinary. But looking back, there are clues lying around the empty tomb that indicate that this was actually an extraordinary time inspired by a divine design.
Look at the settings: a garden. The Passion of Jesus began with his discernment in the Garden of Olives and ended in another garden of resurrection. Mary thought that Jesus was a gardener when he first spoke to her outside the tomb. The image of the garden conveys the Easter message of new life. This is why we have Easter flowers.
Now look at the characters. The gospel of John tells us that it was Nicodemus who brought the spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Nicodemus was the Pharisee who came to Jesus one night aching to figure out who this guy was, only to have Jesus tell him he had to be “born anew” if he had any hopes of seeing God’s kingdom.
And now, Nicodemus has come to Jesus on another night, the night of Jesus’ death.
Before he was not ready to believe, but now this same Nicodemus believes and is born again.
In all the confusion of Easter morning, and perhaps in the confusion we find in our own lives, the one thing that we can be assured of is that the tomb was empty.
Upon this they all agree. The women. The disciples. The scholars. The authorities. The skeptics. All concur that Jesus would not be caught dead in the tomb.
The tomb echoes with emptiness. Its reality challenges us to embark on a search for Jesus, a journey of faith that can be caught alive by the Risen Christ. If we join Mary waiting and wondering outside the tomb, we can join millions of other men and women in the experience of having Jesus call us by name and lead us into the way of life that is beyond any lasting catch of death.
Jesus would not be caught dead in that tomb. He prefers being caught alive outside the tomb—seen in the garden, along the road of Emmaus, up and down Sacramento Street, Stockton Street, Waverly Place, in the faces of people who have experienced the resurrection and know that it comes from God. Caught alive—in you.
This is the real question after all. Not, what you wouldn’t be caught dead in, but what would you be caught alive in?
Caught alive in a meaningful life.
Caught alive in a forgiven life.
Caught alive in a hopeful life.
Caught alive in a fresh start in life.
Caught alive in a life that believes that when our troubles and disappointments and grief should have worn us down, we know that because Christ lives we can face tomorrow. Because he lives all fear is gone, because I know he holds the future, and life is worth living just because he lives.
Here’s the point: If you are not caught alive, you’ll be caught dead. And no one—least of all Jesus who died for us and is risen—wants that.
Let us pray.
O Lord, we celebrate the Risen Christ and pray that for each one of us we come to believe that life is worth living because the tomb is empty. In the name of Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead so that we may have life everlasting, we pray. Amen.