Banishing the Darkness
On the morning of the first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb while it was still dark. Just two days earlier, the earth was shaken and the sky turned dark as the Son of God died. Mary knew something about darkness. She had been there with Jesus through the darkness of Good Friday. Patiently and agonisingly she had stood at the cross and watched him die. As he died, she felt, as well as saw, the darkness descend. Now, two days later, unable to sleep, she made her way to his tomb.
But when she got there the stone blocking the entrance had been removed. As she peered into the gloom, she realised that he was not there. She didn’t know what had happened. She just knew that Jesus’ body was not where it should be and the most likely explanation was that someone had stolen it. So she ran and told Peter, another of Jesus’ followers.
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” John 20:2
On hearing this, Peter went to the tomb. Without hesitation, he ran straight into the darkness of the tomb. Jesus was not there. He didn’t know what to make of it either and went back home wondering. Mary, however, didn’t leave.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there… John 20:11-14
The Jesus that she had seen die, the Jesus she had helped place in the tomb, was alive. At that moment, her darkness, her grief, and her hopelessness fled, just as the darkness of night is banished by the presence of the rising sun. Mary’s experience takes us back to the very beginning of John’s gospel, where is says…
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
Darkness was never going to have the last word. Darkness is powerful and pervasive, but Jesus is the light of the world. He said…
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46
There is a dark corner in every life. For some it is the loss of hope that life can ever be different or better. For others it is a sense of darkness as they look at this country and its leaders and can’t see anyone with the moral courage to stand for what is right. Still others are frightened by a world that seems to have lost its way. And others suffer from intense loneliness even in the midst of a busy life. But most serious of all is the darkness suffered by those who leave God out of their lives.
Jesus is God’s true light. All other light is temporary. The darkness will not be held back by a substitute light pretending to be the light of the world. At Easter, God calls us back to the light. To ignore God and his son Jesus is to stay in darkness. If we want to live, then we need to invite the light of the God, revealed in Jesus, to banish our darkness because, in his presence, the darkness must give way.
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry
But when she got there the stone blocking the entrance had been removed. As she peered into the gloom, she realised that he was not there. She didn’t know what had happened. She just knew that Jesus’ body was not where it should be and the most likely explanation was that someone had stolen it. So she ran and told Peter, another of Jesus’ followers.
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” John 20:2
On hearing this, Peter went to the tomb. Without hesitation, he ran straight into the darkness of the tomb. Jesus was not there. He didn’t know what to make of it either and went back home wondering. Mary, however, didn’t leave.
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there… John 20:11-14
The Jesus that she had seen die, the Jesus she had helped place in the tomb, was alive. At that moment, her darkness, her grief, and her hopelessness fled, just as the darkness of night is banished by the presence of the rising sun. Mary’s experience takes us back to the very beginning of John’s gospel, where is says…
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
Darkness was never going to have the last word. Darkness is powerful and pervasive, but Jesus is the light of the world. He said…
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46
There is a dark corner in every life. For some it is the loss of hope that life can ever be different or better. For others it is a sense of darkness as they look at this country and its leaders and can’t see anyone with the moral courage to stand for what is right. Still others are frightened by a world that seems to have lost its way. And others suffer from intense loneliness even in the midst of a busy life. But most serious of all is the darkness suffered by those who leave God out of their lives.
Jesus is God’s true light. All other light is temporary. The darkness will not be held back by a substitute light pretending to be the light of the world. At Easter, God calls us back to the light. To ignore God and his son Jesus is to stay in darkness. If we want to live, then we need to invite the light of the God, revealed in Jesus, to banish our darkness because, in his presence, the darkness must give way.
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry