“Come! See! Testify!

”
(Easter Sunday)
April 24, 2011

John 20:1-18 Acts 10:34-43 Colossians 3:1-4

You might have noticed by now that today is different. Everyone is dressed up, many of us have new clothes,
everyone has made an extra effort to come today, the choir has special music, the bell choir plays, there are a
bazoolean flowers in the front of the church, we brought in new members today and probably a few more things
that I missed. Today is different because today is Easter, today we celebrate the most amazing event in the history
of… well… history. Today we remember that in the history of mankind, one man conquered death. Jesus was born
as a human being, lived as a human being, was tried, convicted, crucified, died, was buried in a tomb and after three
days defeated sin and death and rose again, to a new life as something far more than human. What happened on the
day we call Resurrection Sunday, or Easter more than two thousand years ago was so amazing and so completely
unrepeatable, that we are still talking about it and still marveling over it today.

But so what?

What I mean is, what are we expected to do? Because we have heard this story, because most of us have committed
this story to memory, is that all that there is? This morning we remember that the disciples didn’t think so… but
first, let’s remember the story… (John 20:1-18)
1
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone
had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus
loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon
Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the
cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8
Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did
not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they
were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

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Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels
in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know
where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it
was Jesus.
15
He asked her, “Woman, 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 get him.”
16
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means
“Teacher”).
17
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell
them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
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18
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said
these things to her.

The first thing that happens in our scripture passage is that Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and sees that the
stone has been removed from the entrance. This was not a small stone. If it was anything at all like the tombs from
that period that we can still see today, the stone probably weighed a ton or more. It typically would have required
three or more adult men to move it. Mary goes to the tomb, sees the stone, finds the tomb empty and then runs to
find Peter and John (who never mentions himself by name, only referring to himself as “the other disciple” and,
“the disciple that Jesus loved”). This is funny. We get to see a slice of John’s personality here as he writes in a
way that is almost boasting and that hassles Peter at the same time. Four times, John makes the point that as they
ran to the tomb, Peter was the slow one and had to eat John’s dust. John says, “Both were running, but the other
disciple outran Peter” and just to be sure you get the point he adds, “and reached the tomb first.” Next he says,
“Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb,” and then, “Finally the other disciple, who
had reached the tomb first, also went inside.” John really wants to be sure that everyone knows that in a footrace,
Peter just can’t keep up, but again, we see the same pattern. John and Peter go to the tomb, they see, they believe
that the tomb is empty (they do not yet understand that Jesus has risen from the dead), and then they return to tell
others the news. It happens again with Mary Magdalene much as it did before. Mary sees Jesus alive, and returns
to the disciples to tell them the Good News. We see this pattern from the very beginning of the gospel message and
as followers and disciples of Jesus we are expected to repeat the pattern.

How many of you all watch those crime shows on television? In our house, CSI and NCIS and Criminal Minds are
all favorites. But whether you watch those or whether you remember Perry Mason or Matlock or Dragnet, one
thing remains the same. In a criminal trial, witnesses are expected to testify. Even when the bad guys threaten the
witnesses, we, under our system of government, promise to protect them, even if that means putting then into the
witness protection program and moving them across the country and giving them a new identity. We do that
because we have placed so much value on the testimony of a witness. If we watch the news on television, we hear
the anchor person tell us the story about what happened but how do we know that they are telling us the truth?
Even if we are inclined to believe them, how do we feel connected to the truth? Most often the way that we feel
connected to the story and how we know that the story is real is for us to hear from witnesses; friends, neighbors
and people who saw or heard what happened. The same is true for major positive events. If you won tickets to the
Super Bowl or to the World Series and you were able to witness that one amazing play, one of those events that will
be played in slow motion for years to come, would you go home and say nothing, or would you be telling everyone
you could find for weeks, even years later? Of course you would.

Acts 10:34-43
34
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from
every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of
Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has
happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing
all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging
him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen
by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose
from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as
judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives
forgiveness of sins through his name.”

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Peter stands before the crowd and declares that “We are witnesses.” He tells everyone that Jesus rose from the dead
and was seen by witnesses. Peter also tells us that because they were witnesses, Jesus commanded them to preach
and to testify about what they had seen so that others might believe in Jesus and be forgiven. Because we are the
followers of Jesus and because we are also his disciples, we have inherited the mission of the disciples. Jesus
commands us to tell others what we have seen.

Two thousand years have passed since that first Easter and none of us were there to see firsthand the events of
Jesus’ resurrection but we have seen Jesus at work. Each of us has seen the change that Jesus works in human
hearts. We have seen Jesus make a difference in the lives of people around us and most certainly we are witnesses
of what Jesus has done in our own lives. Jesus says that because we have seen, because we are witnesses, we are
commanded to testify, we are commanded to tell others about what we have seen so that they might believe in Jesus
and be forgiven. The problem for us is that telling others is uncomfortable. It’s easier to think that we should hire
this out and let pastors and missionaries be the ones to tell others, but that isn’t what we are called to do. Peter says
that we are called to testify, not because we are qualified and not because we are trained, but because we are
witnesses. We don’t insist that only police officers and law enforcement personnel can testify in a criminal trial, we
insist that, whether they are rich or poor, educated or ignorant, whoever witnessed the crime should testify.

I know that even the thought of telling others can be frightening and so I want to close with this passage from
Colossians 3:1-4…
1
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Sure, giving testimony about what we have seen is frightening but will God provide us any less than our legal
system and law enforcement community? If we promise to protect those witnesses who are willing to come
forward and testify, will God do any less? Paul’s instructions remind us not to focus on earthly things, but to put
our focus on God and on eternal goals.

Mary Magdalene, John and Peter were the first ones to go to the tomb but having seen for themselves, they were
compelled to run and tell others. Jesus then commanded all of his followers that, as witnesses, we must testify
about the things that he has done.

The message of Easter is the most amazing event in the history of history. We have come, we have heard the Good
News and we have seen what God has done. All that remains is for us to do what the disciples of Jesus Christ have
always done… testify to others about what we have seen.

Jesus… …is… …ALIVE!

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