St Mary Magdalene

For the Apostles and friends of Jesus, the first Easter day started as a miserable day, but it ended as the happiest day in their whole life.

The empty tomb

Jesus died on the Cross at three o’clock on the afternoon of Good Friday, and by the time Joseph of Arimathaea had got permission from Pontius Pilate to take his body down from the Cross, and Nicodemus had brought the spices and grave bands, the day was nearly over.  As a result they had to bury his body rather hurriedly.  So Mary Magdalene and the other women who had watched from a distance, made up their minds to return later on to the garden where the tomb was, and to do everything properly.  The next day was the Sabbath, when all work was forbidden, and so on the Sunday morning before dawn they made their way there, only to find that the tomb was empty.

At once Mary Magdalene went running back to tell Peter and John the news.  They, without waiting, ran to see for themselves, and having done so returned the way they had come.  In the meantime Mary Magdalene walked back again to the garden.  She was quite sure in her mind what had happened: the enemies of Jesus, out of spite, must have taken his body away.  She remembered the last time she had seen him alive – as he hung in agony on the Cross.  It was a terrible memory.  And now, she thought, not content with having crucified him, they would not even let his poor body rest in peace.

So she stood there weeping in helpless grief, not knowing as yet that the body of her Lord had not been taken away at all, but that he was risen from the dead and his body had changed into a heavenly body and left the grave bands behind.  The words of the Psalmist were about to come true for her, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (NRSV, Psalm 30:5), and this was the morning of her joy.

Mary Magdalene sees her Risen Lord

When she first saw Jesus standing near her she thought that he was the gardener making an early start.  Notice how Jesus, with that wonderful understanding of his, was careful to lessen the shock of suddenly seeing him.  First, he let her get used to his being there and then he allowed her to realise who he was without actually telling her.  “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?  For whom are you looking?’  Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away’.  Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’  She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher)” (NRSV, John 20:15,16).

The Apostles

And that was the beginning of Mary Magdalene’s Easter joy, and at once she ran back into the city to share it with the rest of the disciples.  “She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping.  But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it” (NRSV, Mark 16:10,11).  Her tears had gone and before the day was over theirs would have gone too, but now they were plunged in grief and gripped with fear of what Jesus’ enemies might do to them.  “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you’.  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (NRSV, John 20:19,20).

So Jesus’ words came true which he had told them on the night before his Crucifixion, “So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (NRSV, John 16:22).

Christian joy

And ever since then the Christian religion has been a religion of joy. There is no room for long faces among Christians.  Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen and alive.  He is stronger than all things, stronger than sin and stronger than death, and by his Crucifixion and Resurrection he has saved us from the power both of sin and death, and has won for us forgiveness and eternal life.  No wonder at Easter time we all sing Alleluia, that is, Praise the Lord, as a great shout of joy.

That, too, is why the Eucharist is a service of joy.  For in the Eucharist Our Risen Lord is present in our midst, as we are reminded when the priest says or sings, “The peace of the Lord be always with you” (1), which is the Risen Lord’s Easter greeting to his own. (2) And when we make our Communion we actually receive Our Lord himself in his Risen Body in the Blessed Sacrament.  So before the Eucharist begins the priest and servers say, “I will go unto the altar of God; even unto the God of my joy and gladness”.

Our Lord’s life in Heaven now is a life of joy, and if we love him and are true to him, we shall share his joy in this life and shall enter into the joy of Our Lord in the next (Hebrews 12:2; Matthew 25:21).

SUMMARY

1. The Christian religion is a religion of joy because by his Crucifixion and Resurrection Jesus has saved us from the power of sin and death, and has won for us forgiveness and eternal life.

2. The Eucharist is a service of joy for Jesus is in our midst and in Communion we receive him in his Risen Body in the Blessed Sacrament.

References

1. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2000) Common Worship.  The Order for the Celebration of Holy Communion also called The Eucharist and The Lord's Supper. Order One.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/hc/orderone.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet)

2. Dix, G. (1945) The shape of the liturgy, Westminster: Dacre Press