WEBVTT 00:01.100 --> 00:02.200 Grace, mercy and peace 00:02.200 --> 00:05.200 be to you from God, our Father and from our Lord, and Savior Jesus 00:05.200 --> 00:06.000 Christ. 00:06.100 --> 00:06.500 Amen. 00:07.700 --> 00:10.900 If you've been with us in Chapel here in this latter, part of this week, you 00:10.900 --> 00:15.400 might have noticed, kind of a theme going through these last few days 00:15.400 --> 00:18.000 of readings. This week 00:18.000 --> 00:22.500 we've been hearing about faithful women in scripture. On Wednesday 00:22.500 --> 00:26.700 we heard about Mary and Martha and their interaction with Jesus. 00:27.700 --> 00:28.200 Yesterday 00:28.200 --> 00:30.800 we heard about God's appearance to Sarah 00:31.200 --> 00:35.900 and Abraham. And the promise that he made to them that they would have 00:35.900 --> 00:39.900 a child and then a great nation even though it seemed like they were 00:39.900 --> 00:43.000 too old for such things. Today 00:43.000 --> 00:45.500 the church pauses to give thanks to God 00:45.500 --> 00:50.800 and to remember the first witness to the resurrection, also a woman 00:51.200 --> 00:52.200 Mary Magdalene. 00:53.600 --> 00:56.500 I mentioned this theme that I had noticed in the readings to somebody 00:56.500 --> 00:59.300 the other day and they asked me if it was on purpose and I said, I 00:59.300 --> 01:02.900 didn't know and honestly I never got around to asking Dr. 01:02.900 --> 01:05.800 Vieker if that was the case. But regardless of whether it was 01:05.800 --> 01:10.400 intentional or not, it seems like it's fitting this week as we also 01:10.400 --> 01:14.600 got to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our residential Deaconess 01:14.600 --> 01:18.300 program and have members of that program gathering together. 01:18.500 --> 01:23.200 Giving thanks to God for the formation and service of deaconesses 01:23.400 --> 01:24.200 in our midst. 01:24.700 --> 01:28.800 And as we also celebrated with the Concordia Deaconess conferences as 01:28.800 --> 01:31.600 they spent some time on campus too. 01:33.200 --> 01:37.400 These readings this week are a good reminder to us who inhabit, a 01:37.400 --> 01:39.900 predominantly male campus 01:39.900 --> 01:45.100 that women have played a very vital role in God's plan of Salvation 01:45.200 --> 01:49.500 and feature prominently in scripture. 11 of those women were in the hymn 01:49.500 --> 01:50.500 that we just sang. 01:51.100 --> 01:54.300 If you own a Lutheran Study Bible and you flip to chapter 8 in Luke's 01:54.300 --> 01:59.000 gospel, there's a chart that has the 19 women that Luke writes about in 01:59.100 --> 02:00.000 his gospel. 02:02.100 --> 02:05.900 But our text for today in the sermon aren't just history or a focus on 02:05.900 --> 02:08.800 the women who feature in God's salvation story. 02:09.900 --> 02:13.300 It was just that then we would miss out on what our text is actually 02:13.300 --> 02:17.700 about which is the most pivotal moments and all of human history. 02:19.200 --> 02:21.100 This text made me think about the 02:21.400 --> 02:25.900 temptation and disobedience and all of that that happened in the 02:25.900 --> 02:26.600 Garden of Eden. 02:27.000 --> 02:32.500 And that plunged the world into sin and death and hopelessness, then 02:32.500 --> 02:36.700 our text for today comes in and redeems, it and pulls it all out into 02:36.700 --> 02:41.000 forgiveness life an unshakeable hope. 02:43.200 --> 02:45.500 Don't those things sound pretty good for today. 02:47.700 --> 02:51.300 Now, before we get to this text, I want you to think back just a 02:51.300 --> 02:52.100 little ways 02:52.300 --> 02:56.000 to Good Friday. And I know it's summer and I know it's hot and you 02:56.000 --> 02:58.200 can kind of feel the air envelop 02:58.200 --> 02:59.800 you as you walk outside. And 03:00.100 --> 03:03.300 that may not be the weather that you typically associate with Good 03:03.300 --> 03:06.200 Friday, but put your mind back to Good Friday. 03:07.100 --> 03:12.800 Put your mind back to those events to the darkness, the torture, 03:13.200 --> 03:16.400 the sadness, the whipping, the crown of thorns. 03:17.400 --> 03:20.500 The nails in Jesus's hands, and his feet. 03:21.500 --> 03:23.000 The anguish behind that cry. 03:23.000 --> 03:23.500 My God, 03:23.500 --> 03:24.000 my God 03:24.000 --> 03:25.600 why have you forsaken me? 03:28.200 --> 03:32.400 And then after that, the grief and the despair that the disciples felt 03:33.300 --> 03:37.100 as they saw for sure that Jesus was dead. 03:39.100 --> 03:43.700 So much hope such a promise wrapped up in this man 03:43.700 --> 03:47.400 Jesus, the things that he had said and done were beyond anything that 03:47.400 --> 03:49.200 the disciples had ever seen before. 03:51.000 --> 03:52.800 But now he's dead. 03:54.900 --> 03:58.600 Now, clearly from scripture that disciples didn't fully understand all 03:58.600 --> 04:02.500 of who Jesus was or what he had come to do, and what was taking place 04:02.500 --> 04:06.600 in front of them, and the grief of watching a friend, be arrested 04:07.100 --> 04:11.100 tortured killed, and buried. 04:12.600 --> 04:14.900 It's just more than they could handle. 04:16.000 --> 04:19.700 Especially knowing that it was very likely that they could be next. 04:21.600 --> 04:25.300 So here they have this cloud of grief, weighing over the top of them. 04:25.600 --> 04:28.000 I'm sure that after everything that had happened over the course of 04:28.000 --> 04:32.400 that week that they were probably kind of worried about how Jesus body 04:32.400 --> 04:33.200 and his grave 04:33.200 --> 04:34.100 where going to be treated. 04:34.100 --> 04:38.900 And so our text finds Mary Magdalene and the other women up in the 04:38.900 --> 04:43.400 darkness seemingly as soon as they could go, after the Sabbath was 04:43.400 --> 04:43.800 done. 04:44.900 --> 04:46.400 Headed toward the tomb. 04:49.100 --> 04:52.900 It was dark. Gregory the Great points out that this darkness that Mary 04:52.900 --> 04:58.000 goes to the tomb and is an apt description of her faith as she not is 04:58.000 --> 05:01.500 not yet aware of Jesus's resurrection. 05:03.600 --> 05:04.200 Mary had been there. 05:04.200 --> 05:05.700 She had seen Jesus died. 05:06.100 --> 05:08.300 She had seen him placed in the Tomb. 05:09.500 --> 05:12.600 As she approached the tomb on that first Easter morning, she fully 05:12.600 --> 05:16.800 expected to find his body still where she had left it. 05:19.100 --> 05:22.500 Yet, as she approaches the tomb, the stone is rolled away. 05:24.500 --> 05:27.100 The body of Jesus is gone. 05:29.200 --> 05:32.200 Immediately she turns around and runs back to Peter and John and tells 05:32.200 --> 05:36.100 them that someone has taken Jesus body and that they don't know where 05:36.100 --> 05:36.900 it is. 05:39.100 --> 05:43.000 After Peter and John and inspect the tomb, and return home Mary's left 05:43.000 --> 05:46.500 their standing outside continuing to morn. 05:48.000 --> 05:51.200 Now, not only is she morning, the Jesus is dead, but now someone has 05:51.200 --> 05:53.100 also taken his body. 05:55.500 --> 05:58.700 Although surprisingly for her the next time she looks into the tomb, 05:59.000 --> 05:59.700 it's no longer empty. 06:01.000 --> 06:05.200 Now there are two angels who are sitting there. And they asked her, why 06:05.200 --> 06:06.000 she's crying? 06:06.000 --> 06:10.000 And for a second time, she tells somebody that they have taken Jesus 06:10.000 --> 06:12.400 body and she doesn't know where it is. 06:15.100 --> 06:17.300 Right after that, she turns around. 06:18.400 --> 06:19.600 And who does she see 06:19.900 --> 06:22.200 but Jesus himself. 06:22.900 --> 06:25.100 They should be a moment of great joy, right? 06:25.100 --> 06:27.100 Jesus is standing so close to her. 06:27.100 --> 06:27.900 He's alive. 06:27.900 --> 06:28.900 He's in the flesh. 06:29.000 --> 06:31.700 She could reach out and hug him if she wanted to. 06:34.200 --> 06:36.700 She doesn't recognize that, that's who it is. 06:37.800 --> 06:40.700 Instead, she presumes him to be the gardener. 06:42.300 --> 06:43.100 And she thinks to herself 06:43.100 --> 06:44.800 finally, here's somebody who can help 06:44.800 --> 06:48.900 if anybody knows where the body has been taken to maybe this Gardener, 06:48.900 --> 06:53.000 this caretaker knows and so for the third time, she mentions that 06:53.000 --> 06:54.200 someone has taken the body. 06:54.200 --> 06:58.600 And if, if you just tell me where he is, I'll go and I'll get him, 06:59.200 --> 07:00.200 I'll take care of him. 07:03.900 --> 07:07.700 That's easy for us to shake our heads sometimes when we read through 07:07.700 --> 07:09.900 the stories of scripture, right? 07:10.200 --> 07:13.300 We have a benefit that the people living through the stories didn't 07:13.300 --> 07:13.900 have. 07:15.100 --> 07:17.200 It's that we read the end of the story. 07:17.200 --> 07:19.800 We know how this is going to turn out and we might think we'll come 07:19.800 --> 07:20.000 on 07:20.000 --> 07:23.100 Mary, how did you not know that Jesus was standing there? 07:24.900 --> 07:25.700 Or we might think, 07:25.700 --> 07:26.900 why is Mary 07:26.900 --> 07:29.700 so adamant that someone stole the body. 07:31.500 --> 07:34.800 Hasn't she been listening when Jesus was teaching? 07:34.900 --> 07:37.100 Doesn't she remember back to John 10 07:37.400 --> 07:39.600 when Jesus is talking about being the Good Shepherd? 07:39.600 --> 07:43.900 And he says for this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my 07:43.900 --> 07:49.500 life, that I may take it back up again. No one takes it from me but I 07:49.500 --> 07:51.100 lay it down of my own accord. 07:51.500 --> 07:54.100 I have the authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take 07:54.100 --> 07:54.700 it up again. 07:56.800 --> 08:00.800 Nobody could take Jesus body or his life against his will. 08:02.100 --> 08:04.200 This was all part of God's plan. 08:05.100 --> 08:10.000 Jesus was in control, both to lay down his life and take it back up 08:10.300 --> 08:10.800 again. 08:13.000 --> 08:13.600 And Mary 08:13.600 --> 08:18.700 and in spite of all her faithful following of Jesus demonstrates, how 08:18.700 --> 08:22.300 easy it is for us to get distracted from his words. 08:24.000 --> 08:26.400 It's easy to hear them and to know them. 08:27.900 --> 08:31.700 But it's an entirely different thing to believe them to trust them 08:32.600 --> 08:34.500 or to even understand them. 08:36.299 --> 08:41.200 It didn't make sense to her that someone even Jesus could rise from 08:41.200 --> 08:41.900 the dead. 08:43.299 --> 08:46.400 That wasn't a part of her experience and that's not a part of our 08:46.400 --> 08:51.700 normal human experience when we relate to those who have died. 08:53.700 --> 08:55.400 Here's an example. In the parish 08:55.400 --> 08:58.400 I was just serving before I came back to the Seminary and in the 08:58.400 --> 08:59.900 time that I was there, we had around 09:00.000 --> 09:01.600 130 funerals. 09:03.100 --> 09:06.200 And I can guarantee you that all of those people that we have buried 09:06.200 --> 09:08.000 in the ground, awaiting the resurrection. 09:08.000 --> 09:11.400 All of those Saints are still buried. 09:12.200 --> 09:14.000 None of them are walking around. 09:14.700 --> 09:17.500 None of them are alive here on Earth anymore. 09:18.900 --> 09:21.200 That's our human experience with death. 09:21.200 --> 09:23.700 And so even if someone like Jesus tells you that, it's going to be 09:23.700 --> 09:26.200 different that he's going to rise from the dead. 09:27.000 --> 09:29.900 It's hard for that to click in our minds. 09:32.200 --> 09:37.000 So, even on this Easter morning, when Mary is looking face to face 09:37.000 --> 09:38.000 with Jesus, 09:39.300 --> 09:40.700 she doesn't recognize him. 09:42.700 --> 09:45.500 Until something very simple 09:46.500 --> 09:48.400 and yet very important happens. 09:49.600 --> 09:53.100 Jesus speaks a word, Mary. 09:54.500 --> 09:56.000 He calls her by name 09:56.000 --> 09:59.500 and in that moment, she recognizes the voice of Her Good Shepherd. 10:00.200 --> 10:02.900 Just like Jesus said, she would. 10:04.600 --> 10:05.800 Back there in John 10 10:05.800 --> 10:09.200 Jesus said this to, he said my sheep hear my voice and I know them, 10:09.400 --> 10:10.500 and they follow me. 10:13.000 --> 10:15.500 This is how we all come to know Jesus, right? 10:15.700 --> 10:17.500 He calls us by name. 10:18.400 --> 10:20.000 He called you by name in your baptism. 10:20.000 --> 10:24.000 When he reached down from heaven, he said your name out loud and said 10:24.000 --> 10:27.000 I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 10:27.000 --> 10:28.400 Holy Spirit. 10:29.700 --> 10:31.000 Your sins were forgiven. 10:32.200 --> 10:34.100 You are given the gift of eternal life. 10:35.600 --> 10:39.400 Nothing can snatch you out of the hand of your Father. 10:42.300 --> 10:44.700 But it has to be revealed to you. 10:45.900 --> 10:47.800 You can't buy your own reason or strength 10:47.800 --> 10:49.500 come to believe in Jesus. 10:50.400 --> 10:53.400 Mary, couldn't even when he was standing right in front of her. 10:54.800 --> 10:57.900 The disciples on the road to Emmaus couldn't even as they were in 10:57.900 --> 10:59.800 conversation with Jesus. 11:00.900 --> 11:05.400 The disciples sitting out in a fishing boat, couldn't even as Jesus 11:05.400 --> 11:08.900 instructed them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. 11:10.800 --> 11:15.000 None of them knew who Jesus was until he revealed himself to them. 11:16.500 --> 11:19.100 Mary and speaking her name. 11:20.400 --> 11:23.600 The Disciples of Emmaus and the breaking of the bread and the 11:23.600 --> 11:27.000 disciples on the boats, in the great and abundant blessings, that 11:27.000 --> 11:29.600 Jesus gave them as they pulled in that 11:29.600 --> 11:31.600 large catch a fish. 11:34.500 --> 11:36.300 Once he reveals himself to you, 11:37.500 --> 11:39.600 your life is never the same again. 11:41.200 --> 11:44.700 Mary became a witness to the greatest event in the entire history of 11:44.700 --> 11:45.400 humanity, 11:45.700 --> 11:49.900 the resurrection of Jesus. She was the first to proclaim that good 11:49.900 --> 11:51.700 news to the other disciples. 11:52.100 --> 11:53.400 She has seen the Lord. 11:54.300 --> 11:56.700 Jesus is Alive. 11:58.200 --> 11:59.400 It was a game changer. 12:00.500 --> 12:02.100 It's a world change. 12:03.400 --> 12:03.600 Through 12:03.600 --> 12:08.800 Jesus is resurrection, there's now life beyond death. Through, Jesus's 12:08.800 --> 12:11.700 resurrection, there's now forgiveness for sins. 12:12.800 --> 12:16.800 Through Jesus resurrection, the devil has been neutered of all his 12:16.800 --> 12:17.400 power. 12:20.700 --> 12:23.500 Jesus comes and he speaks to you too. 12:25.200 --> 12:28.400 I know it's easy for us here on the Seminary campus to get distracted 12:28.400 --> 12:33.700 by papers and tests, field work responsibilities, papers that need 12:33.700 --> 12:37.100 grading, presentations that need compiling, 12:38.500 --> 12:42.700 Responsibilities for caring for yourself and your families at home. 12:43.700 --> 12:47.300 We live in a world of endless distractions. 12:49.700 --> 12:52.200 And yet God calls you by name. 12:53.200 --> 12:56.100 He invites you to listen to the voice of your Good Shepherd. 12:59.300 --> 13:03.800 To know that voice we have to spend time and listening to that voice. 13:05.700 --> 13:08.500 My wife and I have two daughters the oldest one just turned five a 13:08.500 --> 13:09.300 couple of weeks ago 13:09.300 --> 13:13.800 the youngest one is two. And one of my favorite parts of the day always 13:13.800 --> 13:14.700 is the afternoon 13:14.700 --> 13:18.800 when I get home. And I open the front door and don't really know 13:18.800 --> 13:19.600 where this started 13:19.600 --> 13:24.700 but I'll say girles and no matter where they are in the house, I can 13:24.700 --> 13:25.100 hear them 13:25.100 --> 13:29.400 shout daddy. You just hear their feet as they come running towards the 13:29.400 --> 13:31.300 front door to give me a hug. 13:33.200 --> 13:37.900 They know my voice and this isn't because we had, you know, tons and 13:37.900 --> 13:41.800 tons of classes, instructing them what my voice sounds like. 13:43.100 --> 13:45.900 It's not because I sat them down and made them listen to other voices 13:45.900 --> 13:48.300 and then listen to mine so that they could distinguish them. 13:49.800 --> 13:51.400 It was because we spent time together. 13:53.000 --> 13:55.500 That age, you spend lots and lots of time together. 13:56.900 --> 14:01.100 They get to know what your voice sounds like and whether it's in 14:01.100 --> 14:06.400 person or it's on the phone when I'm traveling, they always know my 14:06.400 --> 14:07.200 voice. 14:09.400 --> 14:14.100 The same way we have to spend time with God, listening to his voice. 14:14.100 --> 14:18.300 Listening to him, speak those promises of forgiveness, life and 14:18.300 --> 14:19.100 salvation. 14:20.200 --> 14:23.400 So that we always recognize his voice. 14:26.300 --> 14:30.100 Mary brought the first witness of the resurrection of Jesus, a 14:30.100 --> 14:35.000 life-changing message to you and our text this morning. We praise God 14:35.000 --> 14:35.700 for her. 14:36.700 --> 14:39.500 For all the faithful women who have shared that message throughout the 14:39.500 --> 14:40.600 generations. 14:42.200 --> 14:45.200 After Mary, Jesus went on to appear to a number of other people who 14:45.200 --> 14:46.800 also witnessed him being alive. 14:48.600 --> 14:50.400 Now, Jesus comes to you. 14:51.700 --> 14:57.500 In his word and Sacrament, it gives eternal life and salvation to you 14:57.800 --> 14:58.600 because he loves you. 15:00.500 --> 15:01.400 Spend time with him. 15:03.000 --> 15:07.900 Find rest for your weariness now and a life that lasts forever. 15:09.200 --> 15:09.600 Amen.