Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this morning comes from our Gospel lesson (John 20: 1-9). ����������������

The last 6 weeks of Lent have been a preparation for Easter like I have never sensed before, both for myself personally and from my many conversations with others. Part of that preparation has been influenced by Mel Gibson's movie The Passion. I went and saw it on Ash Wednesday with one group of you, then I've seen it twice since then with others. If I can find other friends who want to see it, especially those who are not in church often or at all, I would like to go back with them. I know scores of you have seen it, perhaps even more than 100. For many people the movie brought tears and heartache. For me I actually got a bit nauseous at one spot. I know there are many more of you who have considered seeing it, but held back for a variety of reasons. Many think the violence would be just too overwhelming for them, and for some it might be. I don't want anyone from here going and having a heart attack like that woman in Wichita (but then again what a way to go to be with one's Lord Jesus). As I've said, it is an excruciating movie to watch, but the word 'excruciating' and the word 'crucifixion' have the same root. For others you may simply not be moviegoers, or you may be too young, or you may be waiting for it to come to Junction City (which I'm still hopeful it will soon.). ����������������

But the movie itself did not fulfill my Lenten preparation. I've become more prepared for contemplating Jesus' suffering and crucifixion because so many of you and others have been contemplating Him as well. I've never had so many informal conversations with so many people about Jesus' suffering and death, members and non-members, Christians and non-Christians. I've never seen Jesus portrayed so much in the public square, on TV and magazines and newspapers. Everywhere you look, there is Jesus, adored or rejected, revered or disrespected. There is Jesus. There is Jesus, crucified for our sins. There we are, talking about this Jesus, telling others what he has done, for them, for us. There is Jesus. ����������������

But the movie, by its design, focuses on Jesus' Passion. For two hours we see the agonies that Jesus, the God-Man, went through for us. It has been important for us to focus on his Passion these past 6 weeks during Lent. Why? Because we Christians get our kicks out of watching suffering? Are we some sort of spiritual sadists who want more people to get kicks out of participating in our spiritual carnage. No! We focus on Jesus' Passion because we are so easily distracted from our own sin, our own need to be rescued. Friday night, Good Friday about half of us were here focused on the crucifixion. Late in the service, I asked everyone attending to write down their sins on a piece of paper. Ushers had given each participant a nail, and each of us came up and hammered our sins into Jesus' cross (not our new beautiful cross, but that old rugged cross made from 4x4's in the atrium). The nails are still in the cross. I then took all those pieces of paper off the cross and burned them in a bowl up on the altar. It was a little smoky in here with all our sins being burnt, symbolically attached to Jesus' cross and then cleansed, purified with the fire of the Holy Spirit. I then placed the bowl of still smoldering embers into the baptismal font, again symbolically pointing to the place where we each individually are mysteriously connected to Jesus' death and resurrection, our personal baptisms. ����������������

And now we have this new cross to be hung, to be lifted high in our sanctuary soon. We pray that its presence among us will help to constantly remind us to raise up the cross in our hearts and lives and always, every year, be willing to tell others about the passion and resurrection of Jesus, even if a $300 million grossing movie hasn't come out lately. ����������������

From our text: Mary Magdalene came to the tomb that morning. She was focused on the cross, but not as we understand it now. The cross had been lifted high above her, but to her it had simply been a means of brutally killing her Lord. It was not yet a symbol of the rescue Jesus had performed for the world. As a last reverential statement of her love for him, she went out to do what they hadn't had time to do on Friday, put the spices and aloes on the body that were part of their funeral care at the time. But the body wasn't there. She assumed that someone had taken him. ��

She ran to Peter and John (at least we assume John is identifying himself here): "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" Peter and John run to investigate and find Jesus' grave clothes, lying not like someone had taken his body, but like his body had just found no further use for them. John sees, and begins to believe that something special is happening there. ����������������

But Jesus' disciples don't believe simply because they fail to find his dead body. Jesus' disciples believe because they see, even touch the risen Jesus. Mary Magdalene is the first to witness him, even though at that time, in that culture, a woman's testimony was not normally admissible in a court of law. But Jesus honored her by revealing himself to her first. � But not just her. Later that evening Jesus reveals himself to a collection of disciples who were meeting behind locked doors. He appeared to them, miraculously, and showed them the marks still there in his hands and side. Paul tells us in our Epistle lesson that more than 500 people, men and women, perhaps even children, saw Jesus over the next several weeks, until he went back to heaven. ����������������

If Easter says anything at all to us it is that Jesus is alive, that he has conquered death for us, and that He will always be with us. The pyramids of Egypt are famous because they contained the mummified bodies of ancient Egyptian kings. Westminster Abbey in London is renowned, because in it rests the bodies of English nobles and notables. Mohammed's tomb is noted for the stone coffin and the bones it contains. Arlington cemetery in Washington, D.C., is revered, for it is the honored resting place of many outstanding Americans. The Garden Tomb of Jesus is famous-- because it is empty! (paragraph modified from Don Emmitte, taken from e-sermons.com) ����������������

I attended a funeral a few months ago. This friend was a devoted Christian man who died on Christmas Eve. ��

But because he was a semi-professional singer, he had many friends outside his church circles who were attending, even singing for, his unexpected funeral. The pastor actually said during the funeral that he realized there were many friends of Al there who did not know about or understand his faith in Jesus. They might not understand what was being told about at his funeral, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who came and died and rose again from the dead. To some of them, that might seem like superstition or mythology. But the pastor assured them that Al did not think it was a myth, that trusting in Jesus, crucified and resurrected, was what held his life together. He trusted the accounts of Mary and John and Peter and Paul. He knew that Jesus' death had prevented his eternal death. He was confident that Jesus' resurrection was bringing on his resurrection as well. ����������������

The Passion movie and these past six weeks of Lenten preparation have focused us most on Jesus' crucifixion. But the crucifixion and resurrection should not really be viewed as two distinct events, but one. Because of our earthly limitations we tend to focus on one or the other, but in reality they were a single, Christ-event. Without the resurrection, the crucifixion would simply point to the unjust martyrdom of some Jewish peasant. Jesus would be just a man, dying, dying for a cause perhaps, but simply dying. Without the crucifixion, the resurrection would be only a spiritual event, a non-human, intangible event. ��

Without the crucifixion, the resurrection of Jesus would only be an mystical appearance by a disconnected God. But with them together, we see the unique God-Man Jesus dying for us and then revealing that He and He alone has the power to conquer even death itself. ����������������

Our time of tears throughout Lent has come to a happy ending with tears of joy over the Resurrection. A father took his little boy to a pet shop to pick out a puppy for his birthday present. For half an hour he looked at the assortment in the window. "Decided which one you want?" asked his Daddy.

"Yes," the little fellow replied, pointing to one which was enthusiastically wagging his tail. "I want the one with the happy ending." For all the tears of sorrow, disappointment, and tragedy of Lent and the Passion, Easter is a Happy Ending to this season. Christ's glorious resurrection has turned them into tears of joy. Tears on Easter? Yes, tears of a happy ending to sorrow, death, and tragedy. Now we can say "HAPPY EASTER" and really mean it! (paragraph modified from John R. Brokhoff, Lent: A Time of Tears, CSS Publishing Company)

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)