In the passage we read, Mary Magdelene went to the tomb while it was still dark. In more ways than one, she was in the dark. The light in her life had been extinguished by the agony of Good Friday.

When she saw the stone that sealed the tomb had been rolled aside, she hurried to tell the some of the disciples someone had taken Jesus' body. Peter and John ran to the tomb. And just as Mary had reported, Jesus was not there. Unlike Mary, John did not believe someone had taken Jesus' body. He believed Jesus was somehow alive; I suppose John thought a miracle, something like the one that happened to Lazarus, had happened to Jesus. But the passage is very clear in stating that neither John nor Peter understood the significance of what had happened.

Easter did not begin as an exclamation point. It began with a question mark. What happened? What does it mean? These are the questions that continue to come with Easter.

I am no less curious than most folks. I wish I knew what a camera would have recorded that first Easter. But even if I knew, I would still be faced with the question: "Well, so what?"

According to the Bible, what makes the Easter story unique is not merely what happened, but what it means. After all, in the Bible Jesus' resurrection is not the only story about a dead person being raised to life. Remember the story about Lazarus^[1], or the story about the daughter of Jairus^[2], or the story about the widow's son^[3]? Even in the Old Testament, there is the story about God responding to Elijah's prayer and raising the son of Sarephath from the dead.^[4] None of these is the cause of some Easter-like celebration. It is not merely because a once upon a time, special, super miracle happened that we celebrate Easter. The reason we celebrate Easter is because of what the resurrection of Jesus means and implies for us and for all of history. And what is that?

What does Easter mean? It means God wins. This is what the resurrection of Jesus, who had been rejected, betrayed, abandoned, denied and tortured to death, means.

Even when God's grace is crucified, God ultimately wins. Crucifixion is not the last word. Even though almost every newscast tells some story about good being tortured to death by evil, evil still will not win. Easter means love finally triumphs over all that increases fear and nourishes hate. Easter means death and everything death symbolizes is finally defeated. The sinfulness of humans does not and cannot conquer the grace of God. God ultimately wins.

It may well be easier to believe a once upon a time super miracle about a dead person coming back to life than it is to believe the meaning and implications of Easter for our lives. I think this is especially true when we have witnessed terrible cruelty. When we have experienced something similar to what Jesus had to endure, believing the proclamation of Easter can be almost impossible for us. When our painful experiences of injustice enable us really to understand the crucifixion, when we know first hand what it is to be betrayed, abandoned and denied by those we have loved, and when our most important work appears to be a failure, it is not easy to believe the meaning and implication of Easter.

As difficult as it may be for some of us to believe the unexplainable mystery that in some way, somehow, Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, dead and buried, was raised from the dead, what is really difficult to believe is what faithful men and women down through the centuries have proclaimed his resurrection means-namely, that God really does win. This is what takes real faith to believe: that regardless of all the worldly evidence to the contrary, the great, good news of Easter is that good really does triumph over evil, that love really is stronger than hate, that hope is more powerful than fear, that faith is more realistic than doubt, that the Giver of life is not defeated by the reality of death.

This is what Easter is all about. And when we are aware this is what Easter is really all about, all our question marks surrounding Easter are straightened out and reborn as exclamation points.

But how does this happen? How do we become aware of this reality? This may be the biggest Easter mystery of all. Perhaps there is a clue in the Easter story as it is told in the Gospel of John.

When Peter and John returned to where they were staying, Mary was left weeping outside the tomb. Unlike John, she did not believe Jesus had been raised. She believed someone had taken his body. When she looked inside the tomb after Peter and John left, she did not see the linen cloth they had seen; she saw two angels. One of them asked why she was crying. "Because they have taken my Lord," she said, "and I do not know where they have laid him."

As she was saying this, she turned to leave the tomb, and when she did, she saw Jesus, but she did not recognize him. There is a mystery here. She was one of the persons closest to Jesus, and yet she could not recognize him. Luke tells a similar story about two followers of Jesus who were joined by the risen Christ as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus; they, too, were unable to recognize him.^[5] Is it any wonder, then, that we, too, often fail to recognize the presence of Christ?

Jesus asked Mary the same question the angel asked: "Why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing he was the gardener, Mary said: "If you have carried him away, tell me where and I will take him away." It was then Jesus called her by name. And it was when Jesus called her by name that Mary recognized him.

This may well be the paradigm for the way Easter becomes real for any of us. It is when we are personally aware our living is being addressed by the risen Christ that Easter becomes a living reality for us. I do not believe having wonderful role models or hearing profound arguments or listening to eloquent sermons can, by themselves, make us aware of the Easter reality. If so, the reality of Easter would be alive in every human being because across the centuries profound arguments have been made, eloquent sermons have been preached, and many role model lives have been lived.

Our basic problem has always been just what the Bible, in many passages, declares it to be. We see and yet we do not see. We hear and yet we do not hear. It takes more than human effort on the part of others or on our part to make Easter happen. There is a mystery at work here. It is the mystery this holy day celebrates.

It is the amazing grace of God that made Easter happen 2,000 years ago, and it is the grace of God that makes it happen today. Easter happens when we become aware that we, personally, are being addressed and claimed by the love of God. Easter faith is more than the belief that God is present in life and in our lives. Easter happens to us when we discover we are being both confronted and comforted by the grace of God. Easter happens when-somehow, some way-we are made aware of the mystery of God calling us by name, and personally transforming our outlook on life and the way we live. It is then we find ourselves responding as Mary did, declaring with utter sincerity: "My Lord." It is then we truly experience the reality of Easter.

God, confront us and claim us with your grace so that Easter is for us more than a holiday, even more than a holy day. May Easter happen in our lives. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:
God, forgive us when we forget what Easter is and means. Forgive us when we are so focused on our desires, we do not want to be bothered by an awareness of the presence of the risen Christ. Forgive us when because of our self-centered living we consciously and unconsciously refuse to invest any time or energy seeking his will and yours. And yet we know we should.
God, because of our campaign for building ministries of faith, hope and love, to some extent each of us is aware we need your guidance because in the few weeks each of us will make financial decisions that will impact the way this congregation does ministries for the next 40 or 50 years. Give us a vision of what our gift will mean, not only for the needs of today, but also for the needs of generations to come. Rescue us from all forms of selfishness. Motivate us to seek your will and inspire us to do it. Inspire us to do what will please the risen Christ and in the process give us a sense of inner peace and even joy.
This we pray remembering it was Christ who taught us to do your will when he taught us to pray: "Our Father …"

^[1]See John 11:

^[2]See Mark 5:21-43:

^[3]See Luke 7:11-17

^[4]See I Kings 17:8-14:

^[5]See Luke 24:13-35: