Jeremiah 31.1-6
John 20.1-18
Why Are You Crying?

In our Gospel reading today we have John’s account of the resurrection through the eyes of Mary Magdalene.  It is in this account that we have the touching description of Jesus coming to her as she weeps.  She weeps because Jesus has died.  She weeps because she believes his body has been stolen, and she will not be able to finish the proper care for his body, so hastily buried on the night he was crucified.  And Jesus comes up behind her.  “Why are you crying?” he asks.  It is not a rebuke.  It’s not a “What’s wrong with you Mary?”  He knows she had good reason to weep!  Then he says to her, “Mary.”  And instantly she recognizes him.  Her tears of sorrow become tears of joy.  She turns and reaches out for him.  She wants to grasp and hold on to Jesus.  She wants to never let him go.  She wants to hold on to this moment of resurrection for ever.  But Jesus stops her.  That moment is not yet.  That eternal reality is yet to come.  First he must return to the Father.  Then, one day, return to renew the heavens and the earth and wipe away all tears.  A day when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.  But for now, the resurrected Christ will need to suffice.  

And so it is with us.  Jesus still comes into our lives and asks, “Why are you crying?”  “Why are you so sad?"  “Why are you so fearful?” “Why are you so depressed?”  He knows we have real cause.  He does not come to rebuke.  He comes to give us hope.  He comes as the resurrected Jesus, and gives us joy in the midst of it all.  And though we would like to be rid of the circumstances that assault us, and though we yearn to experience the fullness of that joy given us by the risen Christ, it is not yet.  But, this hope and joy, though incomplete, nevertheless points us beyond the present, to that Day of resurrection, that Day of renewal, when this old order of things will have passed away for ever.  That Day we hear the final word from our Lord, “I am making everything new!"