Acts 10:34–43 / Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24 / Colossians 3:1–4 / John 20:1–18
This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, April 5, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“EASTER DAY: BEWILDERMENT TURNED INTO JOY”
(Homily text: John 20:1–18)
It is
the first day of the week, and the eleven disciples have greeted the new day with
a restless and troubled night, for they are all looking at each other, and
wondering if, and when, there might be a knock on the door of the place where
they have been in hiding since last Thursday evening.
The
knock they fear is one that might be delivered by the officer in charge of a
detail of temple police and soldiers, who have come to arrest them, just as
they had done to Jesus four days earlier.
They
wait, but there is no knock. They are relieved, but only a little.
They
know that the temple authorities wouldn’t hesitate to hand each one of them
over to Pilate. They shudder at what would happen next.
The
sun is beginning to come up, just a little.
Then,
there is a knock on the door. It isn’t a loud one, but it’s still a knock. No
one moves. They look at one another, fearful of what will happen next.
Then,
there is another knock, followed by Mary Magdalene’s voice. Someone goes and
opens the door, but only a little, for they are afraid that those who managed
to get rid of Jesus the previous Friday may have used Mary to find their way to
the eleven.
The
minds of those eleven begin to spin….they knew what happened to those who wound
up on Roman crosses: They were dead, completely and totally dead. Jesus was
dead.
And
now they had no idea what would become of the movement that was shaping around
His movement.
Mary
is almost out of breath. She says she’s been to the tomb, but it is empty.
Peter and John bolt out of the room, seemingly unaware that they could be
caught on their way to the tomb by the temple authorities. The confirm what
Mary said.
Mary
returns to the tomb, and a bit later, she returns and says, “I have seen the
Lord!”.
Later
on that same day, as ten of the eleven huddle in that locked room[1], and
as they continue to wonder about the reports that Jesus had risen from the
dead, suddenly the Lord appears in the room. He now is free of the limitations
that normal human beings experience, for He comes into their midst, and says,
“Do you have anything to eat?”[2] He
eats in front of them, and invites them to touch Him.
The
disciples’ heads continue to spin: That previous Friday, the Lord had seemed
like a downtrodden and abused slave, slowly dying a criminal’s death. The sign
that hung above His head was a cruel mockery, that sign that said, “The King of
the Jews”. There is no glory for this king, only a downward movement into the
depths of despair.
It had
been quite a week for those first followers of Jesus: He had been hailed as the
son of David eight days earlier. But on Thursday evening, He had been betrayed
by Judas, and in a few short hours, had been convicted and sentenced to death
by Pilate. The week had begun on a high note, but on Friday, it couldn’t have
gotten any lower.
The
highs and the lows that had happened that week seemed like some out-of-control
emotional roller coaster.
Now,
on that first day of the week, the eighth day, the Lord’s appearance among His
chosen disciples confirms God’s power to create and to re-create. Christ is
alive!. Death and hell have been conquered. Satan has been defeated.
The
God who raised Jesus from the dead draws back the veil of his nature, showing
us that God is one who seeks to love us, to serve us, and to lead us, redeem
us, and renew us. All of these divine qualities inform one another.
This
is, my friends, the divine mystery: That God is a God of love and mercy, a God
of service and of servanthood, but also God of all power, might, majesty and
awe.
That
such a God would want to be in a personal, intense and loving relationship with
each one of us, is another part of that divine and wonderful mystery.
Thanks
be to God.
AMEN.
[1] Remember that John tells us that Thomas was
absent on Easter Sunday.
[2] Luke 24:41
