Resurrection
(Acts 10:34, 37-43; Col.3:1-4; Jn.20:1-9)
When life is hard, we can find ourselves dragging our feet, doing things only out of a sense of duty or love. And deep down we might carry a sadness, an emptiness, and a feeling that nothing will change.
That’s how Mary Magdalene walks to Jesus’ tomb early on Easter morning. She saw Jesus die on the cross, and accepts that he’s gone. And now, with tears in her eyes, she’s off to anoint his body with funeral spices, to complete a ritual that was cut short by the Sabbath two days earlier.
It’s duty and love that keep her going, but she’s not expecting any miracles.
Now, notice that this is where Easter starts.
We tend to think that Easter begins with celebration and joy, but it actually starts with sadness, confusion, and a tomb. Mary is crying so much that she can’t recognise Jesus, even when he’s standing right there in front of her.
New life has arrived, but she can’t yet see it.
In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, Red (played by Morgan Freeman) leaves prison after decades behind bars. This new freedom frightens him, but he wants to honour a promise he made to a friend. So, he goes to an old oak tree in a field and starts digging. He’s not expecting any miracles; he’s just keeping a promise. And there, hope finds him.
Soon afterwards he’s living a brand-new life on a Mexican shore.
This is how Easter works. Things seem hopeless, and then God surprises us with the most extraordinary blessings. But note that God doesn’t wait for us to sort ourselves out first. He meets us wherever we are, even when life seems empty. Especially when life seems empty.
Mary Magdalene doesn’t discover resurrection because of her faith. She discovers it because God calls her by name: ‘Mary.’ And suddenly the tomb is no longer the end; it’s the beginning, for Jesus and for her.
She becomes the first witness of the Resurrection, and then spends the rest of her life as a messenger, telling everyone: ‘I have seen the Lord.’
Something similar happened to St Ignatius of Loyola in 1521. He was lying on his sick bed, feeling bored, restless and miserable, his right leg shattered by a cannonball. His old life had died, and he’s struggling to cope.
And yet, that’s exactly where God starts something new. Slowly, quietly, and through deep listening and reflection, Ignatius learns that resurrection is not a single moment, but a reorientation of the heart that can happen anytime.
What looked like a sad ending becomes a remarkable new beginning. And he, too, becomes a messenger, sharing the good news.
This is how Easter unfolds.
Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb expecting to grieve. Red goes to the oak tree expecting nothing but a memory. And St Ignatius lies wounded, expecting only pain and despair. In every case, new life is not forced or imagined. It is received. And they go on to share the good news with others.
So, what does all this mean for us today?
Many people come to Easter not because they are filled with faith, but because something in them draws them to it. Perhaps it’s memory or habit. Maybe it’s a sense of obligation, or love, or a quiet longing they can’t quite name.
Whatever brings you here, I’d like you to note three things.
Firstly, resurrection doesn’t require you to have a neat and tidy life. Whoever and wherever you are, God loves you. Just be open to him.
Secondly, when resurrection does come, it doesn’t remove your wounds or rewrite history. Mary still knows grief. Red still remembers prison. Ignatius still walks with a limp. Jesus still bears his scars. But none of them are defined by those things anymore.
For death of any kind, including failure, no longer gets the final word.
And finally, both Mary Magdalene and St Ignatius are sent to tell others what they have seen. This doesn’t mean they fully understand (Jn.20:9). Indeed, they don’t have to, because the important thing is that they encounter the living Christ who gives them new life.
As St Ignatius once said, ‘It’s not knowing much, but relishing things inside that satisfies the soul.’
This is the beauty of Easter. But don’t expect to fully understand it, for God’s grace is always a miracle.
Simply be open to encountering the living Christ – who calls us by name and then sends us to carry new life into a struggling world.