They (Mary Magdalene, Mary James’ mother and Salome) had been saying to one another, “who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

When they looked up, they saw that the stone which was very large, had already been rolled back.

Jesus was dead. He had died on the cross, and his death had been certified by the authorities who had executed him. His body had been taken down from the cross and laid in a rock tomb. The door to the tomb had been sealed by a stone rolled across.

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, coming to do the last offices for Jesus wondered how they were to get in, “who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

WHEN THEY LOOKED UP, THEY SAW THAT THE STONE, WHICH WAS VERY LARGE, HAD ALREADY BEEN ROLLED BACK.

And, it seems to me, that the very heart of the Easter message lies just there for us.

Confronted, as we are, in this life by things which seem to us insuperable and imponderable Easter proclaims to us that there is an answer to them all; great stones in our way they may seem to be, but after closer inspection we find the stones, which are indeed very large, have already been rolled back.

Let me give you an example of what I mean:

Someone close to us, very dear to us, dies, and we look for the last time at the familiar and beloved face, now inanimate and cold. And it all seems so final, irreversible, and, looking, it seems impossible to us that here can be any future for the one we love. Who, or what, will or can, roll that stone away for us? It is all so impossible, beyond our strength, either to do or even understand!

And as we wonder, doubtfully, deep form within the heart of the Easter story, comes the incredible truth of the matter:

THE STONE, WHICH WAS VERY LARGE, HAS ALREADY BEEN ROLLED BACK.

We are looking at things from a human standpoint; and, of course, from such a point of view it is impossible; but what is impossible with men is possible with God:

God's word assures us.
And Easter declares it.
Because he lives we shall live also.

Or, let me give you another example. Jeremiah once gave voice to scepticism:

“Can the leopard change his spots, or the Ethiopian his skin?”

It is very easy to get cynical like this about people, about human nature.

And that scepticism, cynicism, is a mighty stone in the way; it stops us from thinking, hoping, believing, that change for the better is possible in ourselves, or in anyone else.

We find ourselves in the position of Nicodemus, who, when Jesus spoke of being born again, said, “How can these things be?”

What Easter reminds us of is this:

Here we are, face to face with God the Creator, the Maker and Giver of life, AND the God who raises the dead.

The simple statements of his word, which we ignore at our peril, are true; because HE makes them true!

“He who believes has eternal life,” said Jesus; and “if any one is in Christ he/she is a new creation,” declares the word of God.

The mighty stone of our prejudice against change in ourselves or others rolls back at the thunder of God's word.

Human voices, human words, good counsel, sound advice, all these are helpless before the utter deadness of those who are dead in trespasses and sins; but God's voice, his word, has power to bring to life, to re-create, to make new, any who hear and believe.

There’s another thing, too.

Those of us who love the Church of Jesus Christ, not just here but everywhere,
the Church of History, down the ages,
the Church of Geography, across the world,
the Church of Anthropology, taking in, as it does, peoples of all nations, tribes and tongues,
Grieve at times at it all, in its failure to be what is should be:
The light of the world,
The salt of the earth.

And, it seems at times that things are beyond hope! Until we are reminded that here too God moves stones and brings life to light. Perhaps we need to spend some time with Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones and watch again the miracle of the joining of bones and the breathing of life into things dead and dessicated.

Finally, what of the world at large? Surely things re going from worse to worse? And it is easy to fall into resigned despair, to a weary resignation to inevitable decline. It is easy to become like Ecclesiastes and to start, like him, to talk of

“what has been is what will be, what has been done is what will be done,”

to lose any sense of hope.

Of course the state of the world, this country even, is a gigantic stone that it seems none can shift.

But Christians, like Pip, are called to Great Expectation. We are called to believe that we are experiencing the birth pangs of a new Heaven and a new Earth, that all things, like a woman in labour, moan and groan, and cry out in pain, until the new comes.

We are called to believe that God who made the world and who loved the world he made and sent his Son to be the Saviour of those who believe, will remake things.

That even this stone will be rolled back sooner or later and we will discover the truth of his declaration:

“Behold, I make all things new!”

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorns for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said,

“See, I am making all things new…”

And everything in us that belongs to dusty death rises up to say “Impossible! There are just too many obstacles in the way!”

And deep, deep from within the Easter story comes the resounding, reverberating, grinding, echo of a stone being rolled away, not by human hands but by the hand of God himself.

 

Amen.

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