Easter Day Bath Abbey 16 April 2017
John 20: 1-18, 1 Corinthians 15: 12 -20

Like me I expect that many of us here today are visitors. For some of you this may be your first time in Bath Abbey. If it is I quite understand if during the sermon your thoughts wander and your eyes wander. For this is a wonderful and astounding building. It is impossible to come here and not be reminded of all those who have sat and worshipped here through the centuries. We think of King Edgar, first King of all England who was crowned on this site on WhitSunday 973AD. We think of Abbot Alphege who went on to become Bishop of Winchester and then Archbishop of Canterbury. And we think of all those whose names have not been recorded, ordinary men and women who came here to pray, to worship and to offer their lives in God’s service. So many people have come and gone, so much change has happened and over the centuries these stones, which look down on us now, have seen it all. Silently they have observed all this and they remain unmoved.

But this morning we think about a stone that did move. That is the stone that was placed in front of the tomb of Jesus. It shouldn’t have moved. It should have stood there for ever proclaiming that inside the tomb was the body of Jesus of Nazareth. But when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb on that first Easter morning she found it had been rolled away. We can’t know what was in her mind. There was no way she could have rolled the stone away. There was no way that she could get past the Roman Guards, who had been posted there to ensure no-one could get in or out. There was no way she would have dared to break the Imperial Seal – for the tomb was not only guarded but sealed. But the stone had been moved. Mary immediately concluded that someone had entered and stolen the body and so she turned and ran to find the disciples. We hear the anguish in her voice when meeting Peter and John she cries out to them: ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ There is lots of running about that first Easter Morning. Mary runs from the empty tomb. Peter and John run towards it. We can imagine them, legs pounding, heart pumping, cloaks flying as they race through the darkened streets of Jerusalem.

And after entering the tomb we read that Peter and John return to their homes. There are no great shouts of joy, no alleluias, no celebrations. They have seen that the tomb is empty, but as yet they don’t seem to fully understand what that means. However, as someone once said: ‘The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in.’

The story then returns to Mary who has come back to the tomb and stands there weeping. Her hopes had been dashed. Her dreams had been shattered. Her heart is broken. She stands crying before the empty tomb. And then through her tears she sees a man, who she thinks is the gardener. That is until he speaks and until he calls her name ‘Mary’. What had started as the most terrible day turns into the most wonderful day of her life. For there before her is the risen Jesus.

The story begins in darkness, because it was still dark when Mary went to the tomb. But now the stone has moved, death has been overcome, Jesus has risen and the light of life floods into the world. Jesus is truly the light of the world. A new day, a new creation has come into being. John’s gospel opens with the words: ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God … in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it’. Darkness couldn’t overcome Jesus. Death couldn’t overcome Jesus. The Devil couldn’t overcome Jesus. On that first Easter Day he rose from the grave. It is worth remembering that Jesus did not say ‘I will be the resurrection and the life’. He said ‘I am the resurrection and the life’. He is the Living Lord. He rose again and Mary is able to see him and hear him and hold him.

So once again Mary runs back to the disciples and this time she announces: ‘I have seen the Lord’. For this good news is not just for Mary, it is good news for the disciples and indeed good news for all the world. It is good news for people in every country and in every age. You may have heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer a distinguished German theologian imprisoned by Hitler during World War II. On 8 April 1945 Bonhoeffer was executed. Before being taken out to be executed he conducted a service for his fellow prisoners, at their request.

He chose as his text, 1 Peter 1:3 ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who in his great mercy gave us new birth into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ And as the guards came to remove him he had just finished writing a letter to the Bishop of Chichester which concluded ‘This is the end – but for me it is the beginning of life.’

There is a similar story about Watchman Nee, who was a pastor in China during the intense persecution of the Church under Chairman Mao. When he died under his pillow in the prison was a note on which he had written: ‘Christ is the Son of God. He died so that our sins might be forgiven and after three days he rose again. This is the most important fact in the universe. I die believing in Christ.’

The resurrection was good news for Mary. It was good news for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It was good news for Watchman Nee. It is good news for us.

Just as the stones in Bath Abbey are silent witnesses to the events that have happened here down the centuries, so the stone at the tomb was a silent witness to the events of the first Easter Day. But of course stones cannot actually speak. Only witnesses can speak. After Mary Magdalene met the risen Jesus she became a witness and announced: ‘I have seen the Lord’. Peter too was a witness. In the reading from Acts we heard how he said; ‘We are witnesses to all that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day … and everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

Peter also said that as Christians we are to be ‘living stones’, called to witness to what we have heard and experienced.

So this Easter let us pray that the risen Jesus will fill us with his Spirit and his joy, so that our faces, our lives and our voices may proclaim that Jesus is alive and that Jesus is Lord.

Alleluia Christ is risen!

He has risen indeed! Alleluia.

The Right Reverend Peter Hancock
Bishop of Bath and Wells