God Has Left the Building: John 20:1-18 Mary Magdalene and Jesus in the Garden
read the story here One of our most prominent, best-known stories in Christian tradition happens outside: the tomb is empty, and Mary stands, bewildered, in the garden, wondering what it all means. As a preacher I am challenged both by having the same story every single year (maybe from a different gospel; this is one of very few stories recorded in all four) and having more than one sermon possibility in this story. Preaching on this story when it isn’t Easter Sunday is also interesting: does the story sound different in August than it does in April? We may be so familiar with this story that we miss some things that ought to be perplexing. 1. The tomb was likely sort of a cave carved into the side of a hill, with a large stone then moved in front of the entrance. For someone to remove the stone and take the body would require quite some commitment on their part. And what would the motivation possibly be for all this work? It isn’t like Jesus was buried with treasure like Ki...