Jesus, Where are you? (Easter Sunday)

Jeremiah 31: 1-16
John 20:1-18

Why do we believe in God? Human beings, from the moment they are born, have searched for a higher meaning to life and existence than what our eyes can see and our ears can hear. All over the world we have evidence of people’s gods and their religious beliefs that date back thousands of years. Human beings need to believe in God. We need to believe that there is someone looking out for us, we need to believe there is a reason for our existence and that when we are at our happiest or saddest moments in life, there is a reason for it all.

More than that, human beings need to believe in a God that cares. The Greeks created gods that deal with specific disasters and situations in life for just this reason. We have Ares the god of war, Apollo the god of light and truth, Hera the god of marriage, and Poseidon the god of seas and water. In the period of the Israelites, there were gods just like this in surrounding areas. Gods like Baal who was supposed to bring rain to the crops when you prayed to them. These gods were supposed to protect the people and were to help them with their lives.

But more often than not, these gods never answered prayers and did not care about the fate of their people. Perhaps that is why Jesus is such a remarkable person. Jesus is nothing like these other gods. The Jewish God, the Christian God, the Muslim God is proclaimed to be the one true God. There are no gods of war or famine or marriage in these three religions. And the Christian God is even more unique than all the others because of Jesus Christ.

The Jewish people always believed that God would send a Messiah to help free the people. They didn’t expect a poor carpenter who would rather teach in a temple than sit on a throne. They didn’t expect someone who would rather hand out indulgences and grace rather than punishment to those who have done wrong. They didn’t expect someone who could defeat death. In their minds, the Messiah was a mere man, a prophet like they had read about in the Old Testament, but still a man. They didn’t expect God to send His Son. They didn’t expect a glimpse of the divine every time they looked into Jesus’ eyes. It scared them. It unnerved them. They reacted by killing Jesus.

On Friday, that is where we stop speaking. We leave Jesus crucified on the cross and then buried in a tomb. But Thank God, that is not where the story ends. Jesus does not stay dead, but instead he rises from the dead after three days. The Jewish belief in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting becomes a Christian belief on that day. Because Jesus does not stay dead, neither do we. Jesus, who is God’s Son and who has died for all of us has given us a way out. Our Lord, who is God, cares enough about us to die on a cross and break the chains of sin that bound us to death.

That is the difference between all those other gods and our God. Jesus Christ. Jesus who took on human flesh and bridged the gap between God and humanity. Jesus who learned what it was like to be a child and could nothing for himself, to be a teenager struggling for his own identity away from his parents, who learned what it was like to have a calling but also needing to clothe and feed himself. Jesus, who knew what it was like to be friendless and alone and hurting. Because of Jesus, God knows what it feels like when we cry out in pain and fear and anger. Because of Jesus, God knows the hurts of life as well as the joys it holds. Our God is not an indifferent one. Our God does not turn away from us or become bored with our petty problems. Our God has empathy and compassion because Jesus has empathy and compassion.

Another difference between our Lord and other people’s gods is how revolutionary he really is. Jesus sees into a person’s heart. He sat with tax collectors and befriended prostitutes and even on the cross he has compassion for the sinner being crucified beside him. Jesus teaches us that there is more to a person than what we see on the outside. There is more to the person sitting three rows up or two rows back than you have seen so far. Not every person that goes to church is a good person, just as not every person in jail is a bad person. Sometimes life deals us a certain hand and the only choice we have is to play those cards we are dealt - even if the odds are totally against us.

I think that is why it was so important for Jesus to not be rich or someone very powerful. He was an outcast and we needed him to be exactly that. It is not hard for us to think of God sitting on a throne and casting judgment upon us. It’s how many society’s think of God, God is the head honcho, the highest power and has ultimate authority. But Jesus.. he had zero authority and was never given any power or money or status. What power and authority he had always seemed to amaze the people around him and they would marvel at his teachings because they thought of him as a nobody.

Imagine that, God knows what it is like to be insignificant. In response, Jesus never thought of anyone as unimportant. Two thousand years ago, women were considered completely insignificant. They were practically brood mares that could also cook and clean. And yet, from what the New Testament tells us Jesus’ ministry was funded by women; women who would take him into their homes and feed him and the disciples. Women who would give money to his ministry and followed him around. Mary Magdalene has often been considered a wealthy widow (not the prostitute some have called her) who was extremely influential in helping to further Jesus’ ministry before and after his death.

Matter of fact, the very first person to see Jesus after he rises from the dead is not one of the disciples, it is a woman. It is Mary Magdalene. None of us are beneath God’s notice. If there is any reason to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, it is surely that reason. We are important to God. Everything about us, every detail of who we are is important to Jesus. What makes you tick, fascinates God. The proof is that God was willing to become a human. The proof is that God was willing to be persecuted and hung on a cross. The proof is that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he did not leave us alone but sent us the Holy Spirit to watch over and guide us.

Jesus took us into his arms a long time ago and he has never let go of us, and he never will. We belong to God because Jesus lived and died for us. He paid the price for our sinful ways so that we may be called God’s children. And just as any parent cares about their child and what happens to them throughout their life, God is fascinated and in love with each of us. Today, give thanks to Jesus who cemented the bond we have with His Father by giving up his life, but also for not leaving the story to end at his death. He brings new life to all of us in his resurrection, and because of Him we are God’s people, now and always.

Amen.