….Mary stood outside the tomb crying…. They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put Him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus, but she didn’t not realize that it was Jesus.

“Woman,” He said, “why are you crying Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him and I will go to Him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned to Him and said in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means teacher).

Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to My Brothers and tell them… and Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the risen Lord!”

I have seen the risen, Lord! What a message…. I would ask you to picture with me Mary that morning - from ultimate grief to ultimate joy, from loss to gain. I can picture her maybe tentatively at first reaching out to touch Him, could it be, is it a dream, a grief stricken vision, that’s what others would say, “He’s dead Mary. Mary console yourself…” Imagine yourself reaching out and timidly, hesitatingly… touching this one before you… this Jesus. It is Him! Flesh and Blood, Living and Breathing Jesus! He’s alive. Luke’s Gospel tells that she took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.

I have this vision of grabbing hold and not wanting to let go. Like a parent taking hold of a child who was lost and is now found - never will I let you out of my sight. Before Mary is the risen Jesus, not at all like the One they took down from the cross but a resurrected, glorious Jesus, living and breathing, even though His hands and feet bear the marks of the nails but these somehow do not carry the cruel and harsh message of hate and betrayal, they strangely carry the message of victory and life. She clings to Him, worships Him, takes hold of Him never wanting to let go. ……I must confess that I am envious of that picture. I hope I have some how in some small measure conveyed it to you.

Then Jesus says to Mary, “Do not hold on to Me.” Mary, Mary it is I, but there is still some things that you must do. The others need to hear, go and tell them. I have risen. I am most undeniably alive, but the others must hear, now go and tell them.

The scriptures don’t tell us how the two parted at that moment. Did Jesus leave as suddenly as He appeared or did He gently shoo her down the road, motioning softly with His hand, “Go”. Either way I picture Mary turning around and even hesitatingly at first looking back several times wanting to rush back to Him. What must have been in her heart? Did her heart want to burst with the joyous message of her Jesus, her beautiful one?

The Scriptures don’t say for sure, but they do say that the hearts of the two men on the road that led to Emmaus burned with fire, glowed with a strange new hope, as Jesus walked with them opening the scriptures to them. If we look back over the life of Jesus we find person after person whose hearts and lives were changed by this Jesus. I would like you to meet several people and ponder with me how an encounter with Jesus may have changed their lives, changed the song they have to sing.

In Luke’s’ Gospel back in the 7th chapter we hear the story of the Widow of Nain. Luke records that As Jesus approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the only son of His mother, and she was a widow. And with her was a large crowd… When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said to her don’t cry.

Then He went up and touched the coffin…. and Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” and the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave Him back to his mother. Shortly there after Jesus was gone. He moved on; He had much to do.

What must it have been like for that Mother? What do you say to someone who has given you back your young son? What must have been in her heart, to go from grief to joy from loss to gain, from death to life? What did she treasure up in her heart in the years to come? What might the song of her heart sounded like? Did she from time to time look down the road of her heart and think of this Beautiful One, this Jesus?

As I wrote this I am reminded of a baptism. In my arms I held a baby who to world looked alive enough but sadly was dead to the things of God. At Jesus’ direction and by His authority I spoke His Words of life to that baby, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The Words and promises of Christ carry with them life, just as they did for the widow. With gratitude and great joy, with a new song in my heart, I handed my grandchild back to the parents. I think from time to time we need to remember all that has been given back to us in our baptisms.

There is another story that you will find in Luke’s Gospel in the 13th chapter. There you find a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said, “woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then He put His hands on her and immediately she straighten up.

What was that first evening like for her in the privacy of her home? What was her life like the next day when she got up and she knew it wasn’t just a dream? What did she say to those around her? Understand there would have been those who tried to diminish her joy, those who tried to discredit this Jesus, this healer. But what might her song have sounded like? Did she see longing at the end of the day or the quietness of the moment sing to and for this Beautiful One who set her free.

From our study of scripture we believe that her crippling, her deformity, the evil spirit that which Luke the physician calls an infirmity may have been scoliosis or maybe it was osteoporosis or arthritis. We don’t know, but what we do know is that she was set free by the Word of God, by this Jesus who was God in flesh appearing. Being set free, how many of us are crippled by our past, pressed down by our situations, bound by our sins? How does Satan working through a fallen and sinful world hope to keep us crippled or bound? BUT Jesus came then and he comes now. He comes to us by His Word, Words which are living and enduring for they are God’s Words, Words which by the working of the Holy Spirit can and do bring real comfort and hope, enduring forgiveness and lasting peace, Words which set us free, Words that can put a new song in our hearts for the Beautiful One who has come to us.

These songs of the heart are not just of the women. In the 5th chapter of Mark’s Gospel, I read of a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. Real demons and his life was in shambles. He lived outside the town, lived in a cemetery; he was harassed and greatly feared like some Frankenstein monster by those who lived in the area. Day and night he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Jesus sets this man free from the demons, He cast them out. I encourage you to read the story especially the end. At the end you’ll find this man whom Jesus set free wanting so very much to get in the boat with Jesus, to go with the One who had given him back his life and Jesus deters Him, “Go home,” says Jesus, “to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” Imagine now for a moment as the boat sets sail and the man stands on the shore looking after Jesus, this Beautiful One who has set him free. I can, in my mind’s eye, picture him straining to have one last glimpse of his Jesus.

The scriptures go on to say the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis, (that is an area known as the ten cities) how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Oh, how his heart must have wanted to burst with the message of all his Jesus had done for him. Did he too often think back to that day that changed everything? I pray that God would create in each of us the joy of an overflowing and grateful heart for all that He has set us free from.

Each of these people had an encounter with Jesus. It is Easter, a good day for us to have an encounter, as well. For in these encounters is life, not by our doing but by the grace of God and working of the Holy Spirit. I think today is a good day to walk anew along the road with Jesus listening to Him tell of the Love of God that would move Him to send the Son to teach us of the things of God. Don’t look to a worldly, self-appointed sage to tell of the things of an eternal and all mighty God, listen to Jesus for He has proven Himself to be God in flesh appearing. He has the credentials and the creditability. If you want to know the things of God, listen to God. Listen that He has a plan to bring hope and a future.

It is a good day to begin again an ongoing study of the holiness and justice of God, which will bring us to the cross. There we see the great price of sin, a price paid not by our good works or good intentions but with the very life of Jesus given in exchange for ours. We need to look at the cross and see the love of God nail to nail.

Today is an excellent day to bend down and look into the empty tomb. To see that death could not hold the Author of Life, and at His promise it will not hold those who believe and confess Him to be the Lord. Because I live, declares the Lord, you will live (John 14.19) and if I am for you who can ultimately be against you?

Now go and tell the others that Jesus has risen. Let us go and tell of this Beautiful One.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Amen.