A Love Story; An Easter Sermon

John 20:1-18

Luke 8:1-2 (Sermon Text)

Robert Clemons (Easter, 4/12/2020)

     “Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.  The twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: (One of the women was) Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons had come out;” Luke 8:1-2

INTRODUCTION

     One of the most beautiful love stories of all time is the story of Mary Magdalene. For centuries, writers and theologians have analyzed her role in the life of Jesus. Some have suggested she was the prostitute Jesus forgave and saved from the lynch mob. Others have portrayed her as the sinful woman who anointed Jesus feet with expensive perfume and dried them with her hair. A tiny few of the more adventurous and liberal have even gone as far as to imagine she was the secret wife of Jesus. Some of their speculations are interesting, and some are totally ridiculous.

     However, without speculating at all, we can see, through clear, Scriptural references, that Mary of Magdala was a devout believer, dedicated to Jesus and able to teach other Christians about the profound love that can exist between Christ and His followers.

JESUS FREED MARY

     We’ll probably never know how Mary first came to follow Jesus. The only hint we have is a phrase found in Luke 8:2. It refers to her as, “Mary of Magdala, from whom seven devils had come out …”

     Jesus freed her from the demons that had tormented her, and she devoted herself to Him from that moment on.  She loved Jesus unconditionally, and she had learned that kind of love from Him.  

     I wonder what our responses would have been if Jesus had freed you or me from 7 demons.  Do you think we would respond as Mary Magdalene did? I don’t think we can take that for granted. I think many people in the New Testament stories received greater blessings than hers, and didn’t even go back to thank him. There’s no evidence that many of them became his devotedfollowers. Given the weaknesses we humans often display, I would think some of those folk were in that crowd on the Friday of his trial, shouting for his execution. We humans can be a fickle, weak, pitiful species at times. Can’t we?

     Many today, have received phenomenal blessings from God, and have never given him the glory and the praise for these blessings.  They hold back, thinking that somehow quiet dignity is superior to humbling oneself before Christ.

     It’s possible that you and I have received far greater blessings from God than those Maryreceived. What has our response been? How much has God’s grace changed how we live our lives?

     The New Testament says, “He went journeying from town to town, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. With him were the twelve and a number of women who had been set free from evil spirits and infirmities: Mary Magdalene, from whom 7 devils had come out, was one of these women.” (Luke 8:2,3) Mary spent her days following Jesus and serving Him in the ways she could, because she loved him as Lord and Master. Perhaps we can find a relationship of that depth with Christ as Easter come again.

NEAR THE CROSS

     We’ll never know most of the beautiful experiences that Jesus and his friends must have had during the two or three years they traveled together. It would be such a marvelous discovery to find the personal diary kept by any one of them.

     We don’t know much about the conversations of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. But we do know one very revealing piece of information about how much she cared for Him. We know at the end of the road, as He hung on the cross, she was one of the few who were there.

     Out of all his followers, only four were with Him at his moment of death. One was His mother – of course.  Wouldn’t any mother in this sanctuary this morning be present at the scheduled death of her child?  

     Another was his aunt – Mary’s sister. Bible scholars think she was the mother of John and James. Another was the beloved disciple who most traditionalists agree was John. It would make sense that Jesus would ask a relative to take his mother into his household after Jesus’ death. John was Jesus’ cousin, since his mother was Jesus’ aunt. The fourth person at the cross was the only one not biologically related to Jesus – Mary Magdalene was there, because her love for Him was more powerful than her fear of the Romans and Jewish authorities.

     Mary loved Jesus, she worshipped Him, and she had the courage to be at the cross when a big, burly fisherman like Simon Peter was hiding in fear. She was a special person, because of her unconditional love of the one who unconditionally loves everyone, even the people who crucified him—people who were, perhaps, not so different from you and me. She had searched for the meaning of life on the dusty roads of Israel, as she followed Jesus. She tried, desperately to understand life’s meaning at the foot of the cross, as His life-blood soaked into the dry, absorbent earth beneath the cross.

     How would you feel in her place? How would you feel at the cross of Jesus without the benefit of the knowledge of His upcoming Easter RESURRECTION? How would we feel when the person we cherish more than anyone else in the world breathed his last agonizing breath just inches away from us? How would we feel if he were just an ordinary friend dying in that way as we watched and wept? How would we feel to actually see Jesus die, not knowing that his physical death would bring eternal salvation to everyone who receives Him –Not knowing of all the ways His Divine Action would affect the 20 centuries that would follow his crucifixion?

All Mary knew was that Jesus was the only person who had ever given her life any meaning. How did she feel?  

How would you feel?

MARY ATTENDED HIS FUNERAL

     Her loyalty didn’t cease with His death either.  Matthew records his funeral in this way: “Joseph of Arimathea took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen sheet (perhaps, the famous shroud of Turin), and laid it in his own unused tomb, which he had cut out of the rock; he then rolled a large stone against the entrance, and went away. Mary of Magdala was there …” Matthew 27:61 Does that image bring tears to your eyes? “Mary Magdalene was there . . . no description, no comment to further define her presence . . . she was there . . . in my mind, she knew there was no other place on Earth she could be at that moment . . . she was there as Jesus was laid to rest . . . 

     Otherwise, it wasn’t much of a funeral for the greatest human being who ever lived, the Lord of Life, the Bread from Heaven, the Good Shepherd, the Light of the world, the Savior of Humankind, the only Begotten Son of God . . . was it?  There wasn’t time.  The Sabbath was only moments away when Jesus was unceremoniously buried. It’s odd how we Pharisees prioritize things isn’t it. We’ve got to obey that Sabbath law . . . although we just stood by and let the world murder our Savior . . . very odd how we are prone to value legalities over what our hearts know is the Loving, Right, Good thing to do. Oh well, we need to maintain appearances . . . right?. If it had been any one of Jesus’ friends or any other innocent person, and Jesus had been there, he would have said, “The Sabbath was made for man. We will give our friend a proper burial.

     But Mary’s priorities were clearer than anyone else’s. She must have stood in a state of shock at the great stone before Jesus’ tomb. It was over! All the light he had shed was put out. Those gleaming eyes would shine no more! That wonderful, powerful, Righteous voice of truth would reveal no more! Those elegant hands would gesture no more as he proclaimed the LOVE of Almighty God. They would never again lay upon the broken flesh of simple people and restore them to health.

     He was dead, and Mary must have felt finished too as she stood outside His tomb. Her searching had ended in a GREAT BLACK HOLE! She must have felt like looking for Judas’s tree to swing another rope over its limbs and follow his lead.

     I know you have felt something like that at some point in your life. Unless you have been very blessed, you have. You must have been at the place before when you honestly didn’t know if Jesus was dead or alive. Most of us have been through days that were so bleak and so moonless-midnight-dark that it seemed life had no reason for continuing. I’ve been through times when I would have been relieved and even glad to breathe my final breath and let go of the burden of this life forever.

     I think every one of us has an idea of how Mary Magdalene felt as she leaned upon that great stone of death that covered the way to her beloved Lord’s DEAD body. She must have thought the same thing that everybody else was thinking: “It’s over!”

HE APPEARED FIRST TO MARY

     Whatever Mary Magdalene was thinking on Friday evening . . . and all day Saturday . . . and Saturday night . . .  on Sunday morning she went lovingly, loyally, broken-heartedly to the tomb to complete the preparation of her Lord’s body for its eternal rest. The only thing that gave her the strength to do it was her profound love and dedication for Jesus. She was loyal to Him even when she thought He was dead forever.

     Many people in the 21st century Church who believe Jesus is alive are not as loyal to Him as Mary was when she thought He was dead. She was going to the tomb of a radical preacher who had been tried and executed by crucifixion for treason or heresy or some other trumped up false claims that were making all the gossip circuits in Jerusalem and all of Judea on that Sunday morning. She could have been harassed horribly by the authorities, abused by the Roman guards, banished from the Temple and Synagogues and excommunicated from the faith by the religious establishment. Yet, her loyalty to her dead savior carried her forward.  It makes our modern loyalty to our Risen Savior seem pathetic.

     How many times do we fail to worship for some minor pain or inconvenience?  How often do we fail to give, or help, or encourage, or share or do any of the things that would extend the ministry of Jesus in this broken world, just to enjoy some cheap, worldly pleasure? How weak our faith appears compared to believers like Mary Magdalene who risked humiliation and even death to follow Jesus!

     Mary Magdalene stands out as a person of staggering love and devotion. We should model ourselves after her discipleship. Such love is honored greatly by our Lord! 

     The proof that Jesus honors Mary’s LOVE is most evident in one amazing Biblical Detail: Jesus Christ did not appear FIRST to John, the Beloved Disciple . . . Nor to His own mother or siblings . . . and not to Peter . . . nor to the man he had brought back to physical life, Lazarus,  or his sisters whom Jesus loved so dearly. He did not appear FIRST to his own brothers James or Jude . . . Or to the High Priest . . . or to the Kings of this world.

     Jesus Christ, the Son of God, appeared first to Mary Magdalene, a humble woman from whom he had cast out seven demons . . . a plain and simple woman whose devotion to Jesus is unparalleled.

     No other human being can ever be honored the way she was. It is the unique privilege of Mary Magdalene to be the first person to see the RESURRECTED LORD.  On this detail, all 4 Gospel Accounts agree.

CONCLUSION

     Sometimes we may feel almost worthless when we dwell on our apparent lack of personal, Christian discipleship resources. We may feel that God could not possibly care about us since we don’t accomplish the dramatic Christian works of Paul, Peter, John or Mark.

     When we feel that way we can remember Mary Magdalene who was a woman when women had no status. She was sick, possessed with demons, and defiled by sin. She’s not famous for any great talents, gifts, beauty, or inventions. No one has heard of any dynamic gifts of the Holy Spirit attributed to her. Her reputation prior to Jesus apparently had no merit whatsoever.

     She is famous simply because of her steadfast devotion to Jesus.  She saw the risen Lord first, because she worshipped him so completely. In humility, she has risen to one of the most honored places among human beings. Every Christian should strive to worship Jesus and to serve Him as devotedly as Mary did.

     Mary’s experience is a wonderful proof that those who seek Jesus with all of their hearts will certainly find Him. Let’s agree between us to spend Easter and all the days and years thereafter, as long as God gives us breath to live by, searching for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

In the Name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen