Sidney UMC - Easter/Resurrection Sunday - 04/09/23 - Sermon - “The Head Cloth Is Separate!” (“The Journey to the Empty Tomb” Series: Part 7 of 7)

                                     Sunday 04/09/23 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:             “The Head Cloth Is Separate!”                               (“The Journey to the Empty Tomb” Series: Part 7 of 7)                  

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24                                       

New Testament Scripture: Acts 10:34-43

Gospel Lesson: John 20:1-18

          He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Happy Easter everyone!

Not only do we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on this day, but we are offered new life this day and always through Jesus Christ. The reality of and the belief in something miraculous can change us all. In this way, there is the resurrection of Christ, as a historical event, and there is the impact of the resurrection of Christ on the world both then and now. What happens to people when they believe and hope in something new and powerful? What happens we have hope and believe in something greater than ourselves?

          The feeling of resurrection is one of new life, new hope, and spiritual power. It is funny that I say spiritual power, because as I sat down to write this Easter sermon this past Wednesday, the power went off at the church. It actually went on and off a few times, but when I sat down everything was dark. Luckily it was only about 3:45 PM, and it was light outside my office window. The power came back on a little after 5:00 PM, so it worked out!

          While this was a coincidence, it made me think of the darkness of Jesus’ tomb, before the light of Easter. It did not last long in retrospect, as the power went back on around 5:00 PM, as I said, but sometimes darkness can seem forever. I can imagine that Jesus’ friends from Good Friday to this morning felt internal darkness, the loss of hope, the loss of peace, and loss of what their future would hold for them. Maybe we have had events in our lives where we have lost hope, felt darkness, or even despair.

          Having new life and having a new sense of hope is powerful. Maybe some of us can relate to this. As I said, maybe some of us have had times in our lives where we thought everything was lost, that there was no hope, and that there was no way forward. If you or someone you know has ever felt this way, then are not alone, as many people have felt this way, or still do. Jesus’s friends and disciples no doubt felt this way, until this morning of Jesus’ resurrection.

          In fact, we are reminded of this in our Psalm 118 reading for this morning, as we hear in Psalm 118:1-2 once again:

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! ² Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever” (Ps. 118:1-2, NRSV).

 

          Sometimes though if someone is overcome with grief, or is really struggling in can be hard to see new life, to see resurrection. Imagine then the hope and power of that first Easter Sunday at the empty tomb, and the power this day still has for so many.

          So much power that the majority of Christians now have their main day of worship and rest on Sundays, versus the Jewish Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night. Over the centuries, we began to call these two days the weekend. So, if you get weekends off, you thank the Judeo-Christian traditions.

I would submit on this Easter Sunday 2023 then that the power of belief can change the world, but it can also destroy the world. The power of believe can cause us to create, to sow seeds of peace, and to flourish. It can also be twisted into hate, war, violence, and destruction.

          The hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ this day, is not just merely a historical event, it is the idea that Jesus fulfilled his mission. He walked this earth, fully God, fully human, lived a sinless life, taught us a radical new way of loving, living, and caring, and even died for us on a cross out of love beyond all comprehension. The power of Easter, the power of resurrection is us embodying this truth in our hearts and our souls. The fullness of Easter, is us living and loving all people like Jesus.

          It is the belief as Christians that things can be better, and that God can use us to make things better. When we give up on resurrection, we give up on hope itself. If death wins, then hope died. Today reminds us though that hope wins, love wins, joy wins, kindness wins, justice wins, and mercy wins. Beyond just a historical event and toy set that Pastor Paul owns, today is hope itself for the Christian. For if Jesus was the embodiment of everything that is holy, righteous, pure, just, and good, then him overcoming evil, darkness, death, hatred, and cruelty, should give us all hope that we can also do the same. As hymn “Because He Lives” says, “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone”.

          For the Christian, if our Jesus can overcome all that the world is, if our Jesus stay kind, loving, merciful, caring, and hopeful, then maybe through him so can we. The founder of Methodist Movement John Wesley said, we “Are going on to perfection”. Going to be make perfect in the love, hope, and life of Jesus Christ.

It can be very easy though to become discouraged with many of the things that are going on in the world, and yet today death has been defeated. One would think that even if someone was not a person of faith that they could see how the belief in Jesus’ resurrection is transformative. As Christians we believe that the highest ideal that we can have in this world is to live and love like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For if he was the greatest person to cross the horizon of this world, and if we can be more like him, what a world we would have indeed.

          After Jesus ascended into heaven, we have the story of the early Christian Church in the Book of Acts, or also called the “Acts of the Apostles”. We have a reading from this morning from Acts 10:34-43. Once again in this reading it begins in 10:30 with the Apostle Peter saying:

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him. ³⁶ You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. ³⁷ That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him (Act 10:34-38, NRSV).

 

          The Apostle Peter is saying that we live like and for Jesus. The highest goal of the Christian life, as I said, is to fully live like and love like Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

          The Apostle Peter then continues, and says this is not just mythology or midrash to us. Peter said that he, the other disciples and many other met and knew Jesus. They became convinced of who Jesus was not only by hearing, but also be seeing and experiencing. Church tradition holds that all but the Apostle John died brutal deaths for their faith and beliefs in Jesus, and only someone who was convinced that Jesus was Lord and Savior would be willing to go to this length to retain their faith.

          The Apostle Peter then explains, as I said, that he and many other witnessed Jesus’s life and all he did. Peter says that they put him to death, but that three days later, on this day, God raised him to new life. Further, Peter said that after Jesus’ resurrection that many saw and interacted with him. Peter said, we have been offered forgiveness, new life, and hope through Jesus. Easter Sunday for Christian then, is about much more than bunnies and jelly beans.

          In looking at our gospel of John reading, we have one of the narratives of Jesus’ resurrection. It is true to say that gospels present the resurrection story a little differently, as far as who arrived at the empty tomb first, and the events, their in. Yet all the gospels affirm an empty tomb. Since Mary Magdalene is often considered the first of Jesus’ followers to be at the empty, she is the first person to attest to and affirm the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sure, the men seemed to take all the credit, but Mary Magdalene was the first. Mary Magdalene is considered the first witness and preacher of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

          In revisiting our gospel of John account of the resurrection for this morning it says once again, starting in John 20:1:

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead (Jn. 20:1-9, NRSV).

          Now I have preached on Easter Sunday the resurrection story many times, but as many of you, I have always been fascinated about what Simon Peter and John saw when they got to the empty tomb. Again, in John 20:6-8 it says:

⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

          In the past I have read a story about wealthy Jewish men wiping their face and beards at there dinner table and wadding up or folding their napkins. The take away from this story, is that if the wealthy Jewish man waded up his napkin and threw it on his table he was done, but if he folded his napkin meant that the master was coming back. So, is the legend of the folded napkin in our gospel of John 20:1-18 story.                                                                                                                                  

Instead, though I wanted to know more deeply why this little detail was added in and only in the gospel of John resurrection account. Why mention on this Easter or resurrection Sunday that the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head in the tomb was not with his body linens, but in a place by itself. Seems like a simple detail. It would be like including that the bread at the last supper was too chewy, or that Jesus burped at the Last Supper. We don’t generally see those sorts of details in the scriptures.

The rest of this gospel lesson of course continues with Simon Peter and James returning to tell everyone that Jesus’ tomb is empty, and they did not know fully yet why the tomb was empty. Mary Magdalene stays behind though, and was weeping over the whole thing. Mary sees two angels, and then Jesus, but at first mistakes him for the gardener. After seeing Jesus, she triumphantly heads home to declare to the world that she has indeed seen the resurrected Christ. For Mary Magdalene is the first witness to resurrection of Jesus Christ.

          Back to my fascination with the face cloth though. Why would such a subtle detail as the location of Jesus’ face cloth be listed in the gospel of John, distinguishing where Jesus bodily burial linens were?

          So, we have the maybe Jewish tradition of the folded napkin, which I cannot historically validate. Another possible reason that Jesus’ face covering was: not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself, is to prove that Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen (Jn. 20:7b, NRSV). If Jesus’ body were stolen the body and all the linens could have taken in full, but why separate the head covering (https://www.aboutcatholics.com/blog/why-did-jesus-fold-his-burial-cloth/)? This could have been a marker of sorts. Or maybe this separated head covering was just a coincidence, as we are often looking for deeper meanings. Either way, it is a unique detail in John’s account.

          There is a still a strong argument for Jesus’ resurrection though, as he was not there this morning. So other than hearing the typical “He is Risen” routine on Easter, why is this day significant?

Here is why, Jesus is alive today, alive in us, and when we leave today may we offer new love, new hope, and new life to this world. This world needs you, and needs your gifts and your graces. Today we are reminded that goodness will win, that love will win, and when it is all said and done that God will have the final word. Live like resurrection power is within you! With this said, He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Happy Easter everyone! Amen.