Linen Cloth

Easter Sunday 2014

Matthew 26:14-16, 47-56

Garden Tomb, Jerusalem, 2014

Before a resurrected Jesus appeared … his disciples encountered an empty tomb. 

            On a Friday afternoon with the light quickly fading marking the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus work quickly.  Soon after the execution order had been authorized they had begun securing a tomb for Jesus.  Now, they have a new tomb in a Jewish garden, just around the corner from the quarry called the place of the Skull.  Risking exposure as a disciple of Jesus, Joseph goes to Pilate, the Roman governor who just commissioned this execution and asks for the body.  Once again, time is of the essence.  Jesus must be buried before sundown – the start of Sabbath. 

Now, Nicodemus and Joseph start working.  Proper burial for the body of Jesus is a sacred and holy responsibility and they are only disciples able to do it.  They gently take Jesus off the cross.  They carry him around the corner, through the garden and into the tomb.  Carved out of a wall of limestone, the tomb has a preparation chamber and two burial tables.  Nicodemus mixes the expensive burial spices he has brought and covers Jesus’ body to mask the smell of death.  Then, with layer upon layer of linen cloth he wraps the body and mixes the spices.  They use enough spice for a king.  Special care is taken with his head – which is wrapped with a separate piece of linen.  Finally, with their work done and the darkness almost complete –Joseph and Nicodemus place the body of Jesus on one of the burial tables, roll the stone over the entrance to the cave and walk back into the city. 

            The 20^th chapter of John tells the story of how 3 of Jesus’ disciples arrive at this same tomb a day and a half later in the early morning hours of Sunday.  When they arrive, they discover the body of Jesus missing.  Before they experience a resurrected Jesus, they encounter an empty tomb.  Each of these disciples seeks something different from the empty tomb.     

Peter comes to the tomb seeking a second chance

            The last time we see Peter in the Gospel story he is outside the home of the high priest Caiaphas’ house on Friday morning as the rooster crows.  He hangs his head, realizing Jesus was right.  He has just denied his association with him for the third time to one of the slaves of the high priest.  Of all the disciples, Peter has the strongest personality.  He is self-confident, strong, rash, and eager to see the future arrive.           

He is the first of the disciples to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah.  He is the one who leaps out of the boat among the high waves and blowing wind when Jesus invites him to walk on the water.  And he does for just a moment.  And Peter is the one - just this night – who pulls the sword and slices off the ear of a servant as the temple guards arrested Jesus. 

            Yet, in the night time moments of Jesus’ trial – surrounded by the authority and power of the Jewish leadership and the Roman military – Peter falters.  He has followed Jesus from the Garden up to the Upper city of Jerusalem to keep an eye on him.  And he fails.  Peter disappears into the night and from the story. 

            Until now.  Peter has hidden in Jerusalem for two days.  No one knows what will happen to all of the disciples.  Will the Romans come searching for them?  Will the Sanhedren Council mark each of his followers as zealots against the Roman government and attempt to crucify them as well as soon as the Passover celebrations have ended? 

Mary Magdalene breaks the silence on his pity and fear in the early Sunday morning with her banging.  “Peter, come quickly, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”  There is an urgency and fear in her voice.  Something has happened. 

Peter jumps up and bolts out of the room.  We don’t know if Peter and John are in the same house of if she has to find both – but soon, they are both running through the narrow, steep streets of Jerusalem in the pitch darkness of the early morning.  John, who is most likely younger, takes the lead in this race to the empty tomb. 

            Peter won’t quit, though.  The denials, the fear and the self- loathing push him harder and harder to the tomb.  When he exits the gate of the city, the remnants of the carnage from Friday’s execution still litter the ground beside the road.  Blood and nails darken the dirt and three posts missing their cross beams and victims stand as silent messengers.  Peter pushes harder, past Good Friday to the tomb.  As he gets there, he sees John sucking wind at the entrance to the tomb.  The stone lies to the side, the tomb open, just as Mary said. 

            Peter wastes no time, he ducks his head into the cave and discovers … an empty tomb.  No angels.  No body.  Just the linen cloths lying on the ground beside the burial table.  On the table he sees the special linen cloths that covered the head of Jesus neatly folded and placed at the head. 

            Peter has come to the empty tomb looking for a second chance.  His desire to be restored makes him the first to see the evidence that something has happened to Jesus. 

            The author tells us Peter didn’t know quite what to make of this event:  “as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”

            Peter could have allowed his failures, denials, self-loathing and fear to cripple him.  He could have ended up in the same field as Judas.   Yet – Peter in his darkest moments – never gives up on Jesus and Jesus never gives up on Peter. 

            The rest of the chapter details how the resurrected Jesus reveals himself to the disciples – even to doubting Thomas.  Yet, we never hear Peter’s name.  He stands behind and in the shadows of the narrative until chapter 21 when Jesus greets him again soaking wet on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  In the most famous breakfast scene of scripture, Jesus restores Peter and gifts him with a new task as leader of the new movement that is about to begin.   Jesus gives him his second chance!

            Many of us can relate to Peter – we know what is like to put our feet in our mouth, to say something we don’t really mean, to forget our true loyalties, to mis-prioritize our lives and faith. We know the desperation of wanting a second chance – with our parents, our children, our friend, our boss, our grandchildren and even with God.  We know how lonely it gets when our failures break relationships.  Like Peter we rush to the tomb and the resurrected Lord seeking a second chance in life and know that it will only come through the power of the Resurrected Lord. 

            The empty tomb is hope for those needing a second chance.  Will you come?

Unlike Peter, John comes to the tomb hoping to believe

            When Mary Magdalene finds John he has not been hiding and wrestling with his own guilt like Peter.  In the Gospel which he eventually writes, John never uses his own name.  Instead, John describes himself as “the one whom Jesus loved.”  John didn’t scatter like the rest of the disciples at the point of arrest.  He loved Jesus too much. 

            We last see John at the crucifixion standing with the Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and other women followers at the foot of the cross.  As pilgrims and traders come in and out of the gate of the city, these faithful followers stood guard below the cross being the presence of God even for Jesus.  At one point on the cross Jesus sees these faithful friends.  Lifting himself up to have breath to speak he says these words found in John 19:26-27:  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

            From the very first moment that John met Jesus on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, he believed in Jesus.  So much so, he and his brother James leave a successful fishing business to their father Zebedee.  John believed that Jesus would do what he said.  He even had his mother speak up for him – asking Jesus for a special place for her sons James and John when Jesus finally sat upon his throne. 

            John eventually accompanies Peter, James and Jesus to the top of Mount Tabor.  On top of this mountain he witnesses Jesus in his glory and the voice of God proclaiming Jesus as “This is my son, the beloved.”  John recognizes Jesus as more than just a man – he is God’s son, God’s Messiah – and there is nothing he can’t believe.

            When Mary Magdalene knocks on John’s door, she finds him hiding and afraid as well – but also wondering if there is still hope.  All seems to be over – but could something still happen? 

            So - when Mary knocks, John takes off for the tomb as well as Peter.  In fact, he outruns Peter and finds himself the first to the tomb.  Rather than running for a second chance, John finds himself running with the hope to believe.

            At the tomb, he also finds the stone rolled away – the same as Mary – but he can’t make himself look in.  Maybe he’s afraid his hopes will be dashed.  Maybe he’s afraid, he will find a body.  Maybe he’s afraid, his belief is in vain. 

            Either way – it’s not until Peter runs past him and looks into the tomb that John peeks his head into the cave. He’s sees evidence too – no body, only linen cloths on the ground and linen folded neatly on the table.  When John sees these things – the scripture says – “he believes.”    Without ever seeing the risen lord, without an angel to tell him the news, John believes.  Empty linen cloths are all John needs to believe God’s power over death.  John was hoping to believe – he just needed a little evidence. 

            Many of us also come to empty tomb hoping to believe this year?  Maybe we are facing death and lose and need to believe there is a power greater than death in the world?  Maybe we are lost and afraid in the world walking in circles needing to believe that God really does have a purpose and mission for your life?  Maybe we are facing a difficult and scary future – and need to believe that we are not alone.  Maybe we have lost the faith of our childhood, and even wonder if there is any truth to any of these stories – we need to believe again. 

            John invites all of us to come to the empty grave and believe.  The signs are all around us of God’s presence if we take time to pay attention.  The empty tomb is hope for those of us needing to believe again.  Will you come?

Finally, unlike Peter and John, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb looking for Jesus. 

            Mary comes to the tomb early Sunday morning to finish dressing the body of Jesus after the hasty burial on Friday by Nicademus and Joseph.  When she finds the stone to the tomb rolled away, she quickly determines the Romans or the Jewish leaders have done something with his body.

            Mary runs also.  Through the dark and narrow streets she runs to Peter and John.  As they bolt past her, she quietly makes her way back to the tomb.  Peter and John have already left the tomb and gone back into the city buy the time she arrives again.  She desperately wants to find Jesus.  She doesn’t care about believing or in second chances – she just wants Jesus. 

            When she returns to the tomb, this time she cautiously bends over and goes inside.  She doesn’t notice the empty linen cloths – instead, there two angels startled her – one at the foot of burial table and one at the head.  “Woman, why are you weeping?” they ask.  She doesn’t hear them – she only wants Jesus.  “They have taken away my Lord,” she says, “and I do not know where they have laid him.”

            Then Jesus comes to her and in her grief she takes as the gardener.  “Sir,” she says, “if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

            Then – Jesus quietly and simply calls her name.  “Mary.”  And know she knows – he is alive. 

            Peter came to the tomb looking for second chances and found an empty tomb and hope for restoration.

            John came to the tomb looking to believe and found empty linens and believed in God’s power over death.

            Mary – the woman whose life was chaos and turmoil – out of order and out of control before Jesus cast 7 spirits from her – Mary Magdalene came looking for Jesus. And she found him.  He called her by name and invited her to be his messenger to the world. 

            “I have seen the Lord” she says as he bursts into the room holding them all.  “He called me by name.”

            Have you come to the empty tomb today looking for Jesus?  Has your life gotten so out of focus that you can’t find him anymore?  Have you become so religious that the person of Jesus has gotten lost from all of the things that once drew you to him?  Does your life seem dead and bottomed out – full of death and dying?  Do you come today looking for a risen Jesus to call you by name and welcome you into a new relationship?

            The empty tomb is hope for those of us needing to find Jesus. 

Conclusion

            Easter living means that we all come to the empty tomb with needs and hopes and desires for our lives and the lives of our family.  These hopes and desires are so big and scary that only resurrection can meet them.  Jesus meets you at the empty tomb.  He calls you by name and he welcomes you home.   Then – like Mary, he sends us back into the world as his messengers.  Where is God sending you today>

            No matter why we come to the grave:  as Peter looking for a second chance or as John looking to believe or as Mary looking for Jesus – Jesus meets us at the point of our greatest needs.  He calls us by name and restores, greets and sends us.  The Easter story is not complete until we find what we are looking for at the empty tomb.  Amen!