“Why Are You Crying?”
“This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be
glad in it!” But, very early in the morning that first Easter, Mary Magdalene is in
the garden, near the tomb, not rejoicing, but in tears. A mysterious man
asks, “Why are you crying?” On Good Friday, Mary followed her most beloved friend as he carried his
cross to Calvary. She stood nearby, watching, comforting his mother, as he
was nailed to the cross and uplifted between two criminals. To witness
your best friend, an innocent man, terribly tortured and cruelly crucified!
To look on as his lifeless body is lowered from the cross and laid in a tomb!
To see the stone rolled into place, your beloved friend dead and gone!
Mary Magdalene is crying because she has just gone through an overwhelming,
painful experience. “Why are YOU crying?” What are the overwhelming, painful
experiences in your life that bring you to tears? What are the
overwhelming, painful experiences you are going through in your life right now? Jesus said to her, “Why are you crying?” The week before, on Palm
Sunday, Mary was with the cheering crowds as Jesus entered Jerusalem: “Hosanna
in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
What a wonderful week it would be with Jesus in Jerusalem! But, soon the
cheers turn into jeers, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Now, just a week after
Palm Sunday, Mary has come to the tomb in the garden to anoint the dead body of
her beloved Jesus—but his body is mysteriously missing! Jesus said to her, “Why are you crying?” Mary Magdalene is crying
because nothing is working out like she expected or planned. It wasn’t
supposed to be this way. Everything in her life is going all wrong. “Why are YOU crying?” What are the plans and expectations in your
life that have gone all wrong? What are your hopes and dreams that have
failed to come true? What is going wrong in your life right now? Jesus said to her, “Why are you crying?” Mary Magdalene lived her
whole life for this man from Galilee. She followed him, helped him, served
him. Now, he is gone, and she feels like she has no reason for living.
Her purpose in life is dead and buried. What will she do now? Is her
life even worth living? Mary Magdalene is crying because she doesn’t know
anymore her purpose, her reason for living. “Why are YOU crying?” Do you ever feel that way—like you have no
purpose, no hope, reason for living? Jesus said to her, “Why are you crying?” Mary hadn’t felt alone
like this since the day she met the carpenter from Nazareth. But, now,
seeing his empty tomb, sitting in the garden nearby, shivering in the cold just
before dawn, Mary Magdalene feels very much alone—and very afraid.
Everything is so confusing and upsetting. What is happening? What is
going to come of all this? What is going to come of her? Mary
Magdalene is crying because she feels alone and afraid. “Why are YOU crying?” What are the confusing and upsetting things
going on in your life? Do you feel alone? Do you feel afraid? Jesus said to her, “Why are you crying?” It might have been a
beautiful spring morning in Jerusalem; perhaps the garden was lovely, blooming
with flowers. But, no matter how beautiful the garden, it IS still a
cemetery. And, no matter how lovely the morning, Mary is there for a
difficult duty: to anoint the dead body of her dearest friend. Mary
Magdalene is crying tears of sorrow, because her loved one is dead. “Why are YOU crying?” Who are the loved ones for whom you shed
tears of sorrow? Who are the loved you go out to the cemetery to remember? “‘Why are you crying?’” the mysterious man asks Mary Magdalene.
“‘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.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’” “He is risen! He is not here! See the place where they laid him!”
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your
sins. . . But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!” On the cross Jesus gave his life to pay for your sin. On Easter
morning he rose from the tomb, triumphing for you over sin, death, and the
devil. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.”
“Thanks to be God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus knows your pain: “Come unto me, all you who are weary and
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus cares when things in your life go wrong: “In this world you will
have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” Jesus gives you a reason for living: “He died for all, that those who
live should live no longer for themselves, but for him, who died for them and
rose again.” Do not be afraid, you are not alone, for Jesus promises, “I am with you
always. . . I will never leave you or forsake you.” Jesus even overcomes death, for you and all who trust in him: “I am the
resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even though he dies, yet
shall he live. . . . For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son
and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day.” Jesus said to her, “Why are you crying?” Psalm 23 describes how
Mary Magdalene felt as she sat crying in the garden that Easter morning: “Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” Sitting in that
cemetery at Jesus’ tomb, Mary was crying because she felt the “shadow of death”
looming over her: the pain of seeing Christ crucified; everything going wrong;
things not working out as she expected or planned; no longer knowing her purpose
her reason for living; alone and afraid; mourning the death of her beloved
Jesus. That’s how we feel sometimes, too—like “shadow of death” is looming
over us: pain in our lives; everything going wrong for us; things not working
out as we expect or plan; not knowing our reason for living; alone and afraid;
mourning the death of our loved ones; facing our own death. “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out
in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!,’ which means Teacher.” “Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Just as Jesus was with Mary in the garden on that first Easter, to
comfort her with the Good News of his resurrection, he is with you today, to
comfort you with the Good News of Easter: “Because I live, you also shall live.
. . Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
|