SERMON SERIES: HOLY WEEK—A TIME FOR LOVE. #9 LOVE NEVER DIES
The Valley of the Kings was the burial site for many of Egypt’s ancient royalty, from the 15th Century BC, when a tomb was prepared for Thutmose I, cut into the rock of the rugged desert valleys on the Nile’s west bank. This site was favoured for many other lavish royal burials up to the 11th century BC, regarded as a safe stronghold to leave kings undisturbed for their journey through the underworld to the afterlife. Among the rulers buried there was Pharoah Seti I, who died in 1279 B.C.
But over time natural causes had degraded the site, worsened by raiders who pillaged the tombs for the artifacts buried there. By the early 1800s the Valley of the Kings had become a ruin.
In 1817, Giovanni Belzoni, an Italian keenly interested in archaeology, discovered a structure nestled among the entrance ways to the tombs of the Valley of the Kings. Belzoni had studied the topography of the area and noted how fast-draining rainwater could indicate hidden openings. In the course of discovering other tombs of the Pharoah Ay and Rameses I, Belzoni noticed another small hollow that easily absorbed rainwater, suggesting that a cavity lay beneath. On digging, his team found a rubble-filled entrance.
Once the debris was cleared, they saw magnificent wall decorations beyond. They had stumbled on an elaborate underground crypt. The priceless art adorning the walls, still intact, consists of detailed scenes and liturgies from the Book of Amduat which tells of the story of the sun god Ra, who, it was believed, made a daily journey through the underworld, from the time when the sun sets in the west until it rises again in the east—a mythological understanding of divine triumph over death and darkness.
The burial chamber itself was found with a magnificent painted ceiling, representing the heavens, with different constellations from the night sky, positioned between a procession of the gods. When Belzoni discovered this chamber, he found a giant alabaster sarcophagus, decorated with scenes from the Book of Gates—an Egyptian text that recounts the passage of a soul through the underworld. It was found laying across a staircase that led down to a mysterious corridor, over 500 feet in length, thought to link the burial chamber with the realm of the dead.
But the sarcophagus was empty. There was no mummified body inside. In the chamber was an embalmed bull, leading Belzoni to believe the tomb was dedicated to Api, the bull deity, who was worshipped as an intermediary between the people and the major gods. For years after the discovery, the tomb would be identified with various rulers. But in 1828 French scholar Jean-François Champollion deciphered hieroglyphics in the tomb to identify it as the tomb of Seti I.
Belzoni did not identify the tomb as that of Seti I, or of any ruler, because nowhere in the tomb was there a human mummy. The body had gone missing, and people didn’t know where it had been taken.
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear of another empty tomb, and missing body: on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, and saw that the stone had been removed. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple (thought to be John), and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.
Like a first century exploration crew, Peter and John go to the tomb in which Jesus was laid. Unlike Belzoni and his team, they do not have to dig away rubble to gain access. The large, heavy stone sealing the tomb has been rolled away. There are no precious artworks or hieroglyphics of mythological funerary texts inside. No mummified bull, or even an elaborately carved alabaster sarcophagus. John stoops down to look in and sees linen cloths lying there—the fabric which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bound Jesus’ body with, with a mixture of myrrh and aloes, as was the burial custom of the Jews (John 19). When Simon Peter arrived he went into the tomb, and saw these cloths there, as well as the face cloth which had been on Jesus’ head, folded up separately. That seemed too carefully placed to suggest the tomb had been raided…but where was the body of Jesus?
When John followed Peter into the tomb, the sight of the grave cloths prompted him to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. But after they went back to their homes, Mary stayed outside the tomb, weeping. When she also stooped down to look inside, she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary replied: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Ancient Egyptian spirituality believed that magic prayers and liturgies animated the artwork and architecture of a tomb, effecting a new living reality for the dead, transporting the mummified body through the underworld to eternal life. This explains why their tombs were so carefully constructed, with all their elaborate artwork. The tomb was seen as the means where this journey was initiated. But as noteworthy and admirable as the dedication of ancient Egyptians to their spirituality was, it helped them none. Some sixty years after Seti I’s empty sarcophagus was discovered, his mummified body was found in a royal mummy cache nearby, where it had been moved for safekeeping.
But no one had moved the body of Jesus or took it anywhere. He was not in the tomb, because he was in the garden, risen from the dead! Rather than chastising Mary for her failure to see him or understand what had taken place, he simply calls her name, and she recognises him straight away: “Rabboni!”—“Teacher!” and she grasps hold of him—this isn’t her mind playing tricks or even a spiritual form of Jesus—he has bodily risen!
Each Easter Sunday we say: “Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed!” But what does that really mean for us who have heard the account of the resurrection for so many years now? Is it a gospel proclamation we have become too familiar with? What is some fresh new angle to the Easter proclamation we can proclaim and hear, instead of ‘the same old message’?
But we need to hear that ‘same old message’; the timeless message of how God himself did what no person could do, triumphing over death for us. We need to hear that same old message “Christ is risen!” while we live in a world in bondage to decay, with ones we love breathing their last, and we, like Mary, know too well the tears of grief. We need to hear that same old message “Christ is risen!” in the daily reality of the world in which we see atrocities of people tearing themselves apart, stemming from the same hatred that was in human hearts when people shouted “Crucify! Crucify!” We need to hear that same old message: “Christ is risen!” when darkness and evil threaten to overturn every good order God has established for society, and we ourselves struggle with the daily reality of Satan’s temptation for our flesh to wage war against the Spirit, and our failures, guilt and shame seem to prevail. We need to hear that same old message: “Christ is risen!” in our daily reality where there seems to be no end and no way out from the troubles of this life, the frailties we struggle with, the brokenness of relationships, the fear and loneliness that can be so crippling, and confusion and uncertainty over our future, just like Mary’s own confusion in the Garden.
We need to hear that same old message: “Christ is risen!” and live it! So often we can think of Easter as only something that happened in past history. Or we think of the benefits of Easter as only something we will experience after we die, entering heaven, like the ancient Egyptian pharaohs believed. Or think of Jesus as only ascended, far up in heaven, remote and removed from us and our needs in this world.
Mary grasped hold of Jesus. The time wasn’t right yet, for Jesus hadn’t yet ascended to complete the passage from death to heaven for us. But in some ways what Mary does is the very thing to do; the model for us, and everything that Easter should be about: grasping hold of Jesus in the present moment.
Easter is not just about the past, or only looking to our future resurrection of the dead. Christ is risen today! Jesus, the risen Lord is what makes the Easter message relevant to you, today. The risen, crucified Christ is with you. He has come into your garden, your world, your life with his life. The font brings the garden to you. You stand next to Mary, weeping with her. Your Lord calls your name. You don’t have to wait until you die to have eternal life, it has already begun. You don’t have to wait until you die to meet Jesus, he is with you each day and night, and his angels attend with him. Wherever you go Jesus goes with you. Whenever you are unsure he guides you. When you are all alone, he is by your side. Whenever you cry, your living risen Lord is there to comfort you with the tender promises of his word, and to pray for you.
It is so often easy to act as though Jesus is really absent—prayer is seen as something to do so that we can eat or close a meeting, rather than seen as talking with the risen Christ in the room with us. Reading the bible is seen as something to do, to become more scholarly and get the right answers, rather than a special time to meet with the One who met Mary in the garden and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as he teaches us. Coming to church is seen as something to do, and get over with quickly, so one can go about what’s prioritized as really important in the day. Serving the church is seen as something to do to keep busy and purposeful moreso than being Jesus’ hands and feet in his mission to the world. How might we view our meetings differently by viewing Jesus in the meeting room with us?
We can’t see Jesus, but he hasn’t gone missing. The risen Lord is with you always, even to the end of the age. And though he is everywhere, he is with you here again today, to do for you through his means of grace what he does nowhere else. He has called your name when he united you with him in holy baptism. He stands before you and asks “Why are you weeping?” as he himself absolves you from all your sins. He asks “who are you seeking?” as he places in your hands his precious body and blood to bring you all the saving benefits of his death and resurrection.
Our theme on love from 1 Corinthians 13 that we began exploring on Ash Wednesday concludes today. Let’s read the verses: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Love really does endure forever, because God is love, and God is eternal, so true love can never die. Love has triumphed even over death itself, for you. In Christ, God has shown, and still shows you his love—
- His love that is patient with you.
- His love that is kind, treating you as one of his own family.
- His love that is not envious of others, but rejoices in you.
- His love that does not boast and isn’t proud, but humble, even to the point of death on a Cross, for you
- His love that does not dishonour you, but honours you and all his promises for you.
- His love that is not self-seeking, but seeks and saves the lost, and has sought and saved you.
- His love that is not easily angered and doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, but counted our wrongs against his own Son, instead of us.
- His love that rejoices in the truth, which will remain long after the grass withers and the flowers fade.
- His love that always seeks to protect you as his own, alone, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
In Christ, God’s love has—and will always—persevere for you, persevering even through death itself. Because of Christ, God’s love for you will never end. For Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen!
