Letting Go On Easter

John 20.1-18

I grew up next to a cemetery. I played in a cemetery at night. I now live by a cemetery. I can say that I'm not really afraid of where I live. That's not the case with everyone though. There are some people who won't come close to a cemetery...especially at night. We’ve had a number of friends that have asked us, “Is it freaky to live near the cemetery?” I wonder if Mary was afraid of the dark in the early morning when she set out to go to Jesus' tomb? Maybe a better question would be, "How could she not be afraid?"

Mary had just lost one of her closest friends - Jesus. More than that, she felt like she had just lost her Lord. Like many of Jesus' followers, she must have wondered what was coming next. Was she next on the "hit list"? Would there be more executions? There was a lot for Mary to be afraid about.

Then when Mary gets to the tomb, she finds it empty. John doesn't tell us whether she stuck around long enough to investigate what might have happened. Mary simply bolts to the disciples and tells them the news. Peter and another disciple, presumably John, come back to the tomb. It's empty! The disciples go back home but Mary stays. She has a brief conversation with someone she doesn't know is Jesus and then comes one of the more puzzling parts of the resurrection story. Mary, when she discovers that it's Jesus she has been talking to, grabs onto Jesus. Jesus then seemingly pushes her away and says, "Do not hold onto me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17a).

Don't you find this a bit curious? It seems to me that Jesus could have allowed Mary a little embrace. What could it hurt? Jesus almost seems a little cold here. But in thinking more about it, maybe there's a simpler truth at work here.

When I'm afraid, I hold onto what I know. I cling to what's in the light. Walking into the unknown takes faith that I don't always have. It's harder to step forward in faith, especially when there's stress.

Maybe Mary is told, "Do not hold on to me..." because Jesus wants her to walk into the future. The future was a resurrection future but Mary holds onto the Jesus she knew from before. Mary reached out and latched onto the old Jesus. But on Easter morning, the old Jesus had completed his work on the cross. He had known death. And now it's the new Jesus who is before her. The new Jesus was going to heaven and was leaving behind followers who would continue the work of the Church.

We're out here this morning and it's not been too long since it was dark. We've probably been clinging to a lot of things already this morning: our beds and our warm cups of coffee. We might also be clinging to some hurts, some sins, some disappointments, and some failures. You know what you're clinging to this morning. As much as Jesus embraces us in our moments of need, the resurrected Jesus also is moving out into the future with hope. If all we're clinging to is a past experience of Jesus, maybe resurrection today means that we open up a whole new frontier of knowing Christ. Christ has risen. We celebrate what he has done but we also move forward as he leads into the future. Amen.