For the Love of Him

Scripture: John 20.1-18

I’m not sure why you came this morning. Maybe you get up early every day and, today, since we’re offering the 6:30am service, you thought you would take advantage of it. Thanks for coming. I should tell you this service probably won’t develop into an every Sunday thing. Others of you may have that special sense of the holiday. On special days you do special things, like go to sunrise service. Thank you for coming.

There may be a third reason for coming as well – the news of this day is too exciting not to get up early and come and see ourselves. Because the news concerns someone we care about very much.

It was that way the very first Easter Sunday. A woman named Mary got up early because someone she cared about very deeply had just died. She went to visit his tomb, to make sure the body had been properly cared for, to linger awhile near the body of her loved one. But the body was gone missing. And in panic she ran to tell the other close friends of the deceased of this calamity. Two men named Peter and John came running to the tomb with Mary. They too, were in a panic. They came, breathless, sweating, and shocked. Their grief was too raw to be shaken this way.

What strikes me about this account in John’s Gospel is how narrative this is, and therefore, how probable it seems. I’m not talking about the miracle yet, I’m just saying, couldn’t you picture yourself in the place of Mary or Peter or John? You too would react much like they did. Why? Because they are there for the love of Jesus their friend. They were not experiencing a doctrine, they were not setting the stage for a belief system. They just wanted to be there for their friend, as he had always been there for them.

My friend, Matt, was ordained an elder in the church a few years ago. At the ordination service it is customary for the one being ordained to have a few witnesses standing with them before the Bishop and the Conference. Matt asked me to be one of those witnesses on his behalf. At the time, Matt and I had not been friends for very long, so I considered it a special honor to be asked. I remember waiting in the gymnasium at Messiah College for the ordination service to start and Matt and I and another pastor named Stephen were standing there together. Stephen was Matt’s other witness that day. Stephen and I knew each other but not really through Matt. Stephen greeted me and then asked what I was doing there. “Are you Matt’s mentor?”

“No,” I said with a smile, “I am here because I am Matt Lake’s friend.” Where else would I be?




For many people outside the faith, the fuss over Easter is really a bit of a mystery. Of course they read and hear about Jesus and the resurrection. They may even hear someone tell them that Jesus loves them too. That news probably doesn’t offend them, nor does it inspire them. At most, it’s puzzling. At the least, it just doesn’t register for them as something worth noting. Why would someone they don’t know, have never met even, love them?

We must confess even in the church to being a little nonplussed as to why we should be excited to be here today. Yes, we believe, but when has belief ever gotten us that excited?

Unless we really know Him. Unless Jesus has been such a friend to us that his suffering and death, like Mary, moves us to tears. And the prospect of Him really rising to new life gives us hope and joy that all he said is true and we will be with Him now and forever.

That hope is rekindled every time someone close to us dies. We hope. We believe that this life is not the end. We trust the One who teaches us about Life and Death.


We are Jesus’ friends. We are not here for obligation or doctrine or tradition. We are here because, well, where else would we be when our best friend is being honored so?

As Eugene Peterson says, “Following Jesus doesn’t get us to where we want to go. It gets us to where Jesus goes, where we meet him in Resurrection surprise: ‘My Lord and my God!’”

We too have seen the Lord! We know that He lives and walks with us still! He has conquered death on our behalf. Our faithful friend is with us and will never leave us! Good News! Good News!