Mary Magdalene visited the cemetery early that first day of the week. We don't visit cemeteries much any more. For one thing, churches in the cities seldom have a cemetery on their grounds. Perhaps the deeper reason is that we want to keep death as much out of sight and out of mind as possible. But when we do visit the burial places of our loved ones we go with the expectation that the dead stay dead. The sameness of the granite markers bring to mind memories of faces now vanished and loved voices stilled. We go, we say, to pay our respects. But we go with expectation that the grave will be the same as it was on our last visit.

Mary went to the cemetery in the twilight hours of that first Easter Sunday to pay her respects, to render a final act of love to one who had been so brutally taken from her. She came to anoint the corpse of Jesus. No doubt the burial garden was a field of memories for Mary. How could it be anything less? After all, the man whose body was freshly interred in this tomb was the Rabbi who had delivered her from the torment of her demons. He had extended forgiveness of sins to her, treating her as no one had ever treated her before. But now He was gone. She had watched as He was crucified. He was dead and his body was now resting in Joseph's tomb. At least she could lovingly anoint his body and so demonstrate her love.

Arriving at the grave, Mary sees that the stone set in place over the door of the tomb is gone. Her first thought is grave robbery. So she runs to Simon Peter and John saying "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." John and Peter race to the open tomb. John gets there first. He peers into the vacant grave and sees the burial garments and he believes. Peter quickly arrives and he goes into the chamber and sees the burial linens in one place and lying in another place. He spots the handkerchief that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. It is folded in a place by itself.

Here we have three people who see the empty tomb and react in three different ways. For Mary, an empty tomb can only mean a cruel sort of vandalism. Even in death, Jesus' enemies will not give Him rest. The cruelty of the crucifixion is now supplemented by removing His body from the grave. Mary remains trapped in her grief. Peter sees the evidence. He sees the strips of linen left behind. He sees the mask used to cover the face of the deceased. Peter leaves the empty tomb perplexed by what he had observed. John who had arrived at the tomb ahead of Peter, goes in and he sees the same evidence that Peter had seen and he believes.

The fact that the tomb is vacated does not necessarily prove the resurrection. However a tomb containing the body of the Lord would surely disprove it. An empty tomb by itself could simply mean that grave robbers made away with Jesus' body. This, in fact, was the story that the Jews began to circulate in their attempt to explain away the empty tomb. The early Christian Apologist, Justin Martyr, in the middle part of the second century alludes to the persistency of the Jews in this matter. The Jews who championed this theory to explain the empty tomb were never able to answer how it was that grave robbers got past Pilate's guards sent to prevent any intrusion into the grave of Jesus.

Mary sees the empty tomb and weeps. Peter sees the empty tomb and is confused. John sees the empty tomb and believes. An open tomb by itself is not enough. Easter is not less than an empty tomb but Easter is more than an empty tomb. The tomb is empty because God raised His Son from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not a story from the timeless world of myth. The resurrection of our Lord is not virtual reality from the world of cyber-space. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus took place in what Martin Franzmann called "garden variety history," real history. There is an empty tomb because the dead Savior who was laid in that tomb on Friday evening did not stay dead. God raised Him from the dead.

God raised Jesus from the dead thereby demonstrating that the One who crucified is indeed the Son of God. The Lord's resurrection certifies that everything taught by our Lord is true. His resurrection indicates that the Father accepted the Son's sacrifice for the sins of the world and in it we are declared righteous and holy. Jesus' resurrection demonstrates His victory over sin, death, and hell and it is the promise that we will rise from the grave and live with our Lord in the joy of His everlasting kingdom. The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a sure and certain hope even in the midst of this world of death. The resurrection of Jesus declares that "dead and buried" will not the last words about those who belong to Him by faith.

Mary would come to see that the empty tomb was not a cause for tears but for joy. As she stands outside the tomb weeping, two angels appear to her. They ask her "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She answers "...they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." With eyes blinded by her tears she cannot recognize that the man standing behind her is Jesus. Jesus repeats the questions of the angels. Mary still thinks that she is talking to a gardener until Jesus calls her by name. Jesus had said that His sheep would hear His voice and follow Him out of death into life. Now Mary, one of the Lord's own sheep, hears the voice of her Good Shepherd and she is led out of her grief into the gladness of Easter, she is brought over from death to life.

Mary had not been convinced of the resurrection by the empty tomb but by the voice and presence of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ Himself. She hears Him and she believes. She hears the voice of the One who just days earlier had declared "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though He may die, shall live forever. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." In hearing His voice, her tears are dried and her life is restored. All that Jesus said and did for her was true. Mary could confess with Job "I know that my Redeemer lives."

"If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty" says the Apostle Paul. But Christ has been raised from the dead. The tomb is empty. He appeared to Mary, to Peter and James, to all the apostles and even unto the 500 brethren that Paul notes in I Corinthians 15. Ascended into heaven, He is now hidden from our sight. But that doesn't mean that He is absent. To the contrary, He is with us just as He promised. In the preaching of His Gospel, He still speaks to us as our Good Shepherd forgiving our sin and calling us to follow Him out of death and into life. He puts His name on us in Baptism, joining us to His death so that we might also share in the victory of His resurrection. He comes to us with His body and blood to feed us with the food that death cannot destroy.

You need not stand before the open tomb this Easter morning in confusion or doubt for Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead as your Lord. By His death on the cross, He has destroyed death and by His rising from the grave He gives life to all who trust in Him. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.